


The Three Aces

by ChildOfHecate666



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alya Césaire Bashing, Alya Salt, Bad Teacher Caline Bustier, Badass Chloé Bourgeois, Badass Marc Anciel, Badass Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Badass Nathaniel Kurtzberg, Bisexual Nathaniel Kurtzberg, Caline Bustier Bashing, Gen, HBIC Chloe Bourgeois, HBIC Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, HBIC Nathaniel Kurtzberg, Heathers References, Lila Rossi Bashing, Lila Rossi's Lies Are Exposed, Lila salt, Marc's in a gang, Mean Girls References, Ms Mendeleieve is awesome, Oblivious Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Principal Damocles Bashing (Miraculous Ladybug), Sarcastic Nathaniel Kurtzberg, Swearing, and a promotion, and deserves a raise, class salt, hbic au, he get's better, with some exceptions
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-21
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-12 17:00:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 23,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28888749
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChildOfHecate666/pseuds/ChildOfHecate666
Summary: Lila thought she was the Queen Bee of François Dupont, that she ruled the school. Well, she is very, very wrong.The school had been ruled by untouchable rulers long before the Lila Rossi even stepped foot in France, before Adrien had ever attended the school. They ruled the school with a merciful iron fist, taking crap from nobody and squashing bullies and incompetent teachers like bug beneath their feet.But they were long disbanded now, letting Rossi worm her way in and think she was queen, ruling her kingdom of sheep from her throne of lies and false promises. They had let her.But this? This was the last straw.So, standing over the remains of her destroyed sketchbook, Marinette Dupain-Cheng texted into a chat she had not touched for two years.The Aces-----------Blue Ace: We're Back.
Relationships: Chloé Bourgeois & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Nathaniel Kurtzberg, Marc Anciel/Nathaniel Kurtzberg
Comments: 222
Kudos: 800
Collections: miraculous ladybug stories





	1. The Last Straw

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [HBBIC (Head Bitches & Bastard In Charge)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27401197) by [BooksRBetterThanPeople](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BooksRBetterThanPeople/pseuds/BooksRBetterThanPeople). 



> Disclaimer: I do not own Miraculous Ladybug. That belongs to Thomas Astruc, Zagtoon and associated companies.  
> This inspired by BooksRBetterThanPeople's story. Check it out because it is amazing!

Nathaniel Kurtzberg was many things; an artist, a loner, a bisexual mess, shy, quiet, unnoticed… the list went on but there was one thing he wasn’t and never would be; Nathaniel was not stupid.

And that was why he was currently wondering if his class was full of idiots.

When Lila Rossi had joined their class, Nathaniel had very quickly realised her word should be taken with a grain of salt. Who believed such far-fetched stories right off the bat anyway? His class apparently.

Now, Nathaniel knew common sense wasn’t many of the class’ forte. It was rather obvious considering how reckless they could be and Kim’s ever-growing list of stupid dares. But this was is where Nathaniel drew a line.

How utterly stupid must they be to listen to the BS that came from Lila Rossi’s mouth? It was blatant stupidity! Her lies were outlandish and easily debunkable by an internet search or just basic intelligence; Jagged Stone was deathly allergic to cats. Prince Ali only worked with children’s charities. Ladybug wouldn’t let her “best friend” be put in danger of a magical terrorist by putting an interview of herself online. The people in the background of her video call from “Achu” never moved. Nathaniel could have written a whole book on the canyon-sized gaps in Lila’s lies.

But the worst part of it all, was how they had begun to treat Marinette – the sweetest, most generous and helpful in the entire class. Marinette had done so much for them, had bent over backwards organising trips, bringing sweets and decorations and making them things for _free_ but the second Lila came along with her grand tales of celebrities, charities, world travels and, of course, connections, they dumped her for the newest shiniest thing that came along.

It was fucked up. It was beyond fucked up.

Marinette was one of the few in the class to see past Lila’s lies and the only one to call her out on it. Nathaniel had stayed out of it, having learned a long time ago that you couldn’t argue with idiots but Marinette had always been braver than him, been bolder than him. She called Lila out right away but no one had listened to her. No, they just drunk up more of Lila’s false promises and tall tales instead. All it took was some crocodile tears and the class were giving Marinette the cold shoulder and moving her to the back of the classroom.

But then Marinette was expelled. He couldn’t believe what was happening that day, standing in the locker room, watching Principal Damocles publicly expel Marinette on possibly the most fake evidence Nathaniel had ever seen.

Marinette always did well in tests she always had top scores! Why would she steal a test? Why would she have any need to cheat, especially on a _practice_ test? And the stolen heirloom necklace? Did anyone recall the fact that there were no locks on the lockers? It was stupidly easy to plant the necklace inside! And Nathaniel swore he had seen that so-called heirloom in the window of a Gabriel store. And how Marinette had apparently pushed Lila down the stairs, Lila who had not a single bump or scrape from the fall down a metal staircase, unseen by cameras the school refused to buy or replace.

The only thing that prevented Nathaniel from screaming at Principal Damocles for what a farce the entire expulsion was, was the flood of akumas that had filled the room. That was bad on itself but Nathaniel swore his blood had ran cold when he saw Lila’s face, completely unaffected by the akumas. He swore on his great-grandmother’s grave that Lila Rossi had been smirking at them, expression proud, like this had been her goal.

The event had acted as a catalyst for the events that unfolded afterwards. After Marinette had been un-expelled (somehow), Lila had twisted everything to make Marinette into the bully, the lying, jealous villain that was out to get her. Nathaniel had felt sick when he saw how the class decided to get “payback” on her; tripping her in the hallway, shoving her, damaging her property, calling her names, even messing with his sketches.

It seemed like they were all under Lila’s spell. Even Alya, Marinette’s best friend stuck by the liar. There were some who seemed saveable, thank goodness; He could see the rare glimmer of doubt in Nino and Rose’s eyes, see the thoughtful, almost confused look that would cross Alix’s face whenever Lila described how Marinette had picked on her and he saw the glares Juleka sent Lila’s way when no one else could see. But still, no one stood up for her, and when he tried, he was brushed off.

It was a mess, a giant, infuriating mess and Nathaniel didn’t know what to do about it.

So, he instead sat at a lunch table, away from Lila and her sheep and kept working on the final set of pages for his and Marc’s latest comic issue. It had taken weeks alone to piece together the panels and drawings in a way that kept a steady pace for Marc’s amazing story and drawing had taken months to draw. With their deadline fast approaching, Nathaniel wanted to finish these pages and finally get to scan and colour them on his tablet which was much quicker than the months it took to get these last few pages done.

He focused on his work, blocking out Lila’s obnoxious voice as he did so. He was almost done when Lila’s voice cut through the air loudly, addressing him.

“Nath!” she cried, making Nathaniel shudder at the use of his nickname on the lips of the liar.

“What?” He asked, taking his time to finish of a specific line before he rose hi gaze from his work to look at Lila and her group, the liar approaching his table. Alya was looking at Lila like she was the new Aphrodite, as usual. Nathaniel fought back the urge to roll his eyes at the so-called reporter’s behaviour.

“I know you’re working on that comic of yours and I thought you might want me to hook you up! Did you know, Stan Lee is my great-uncle! I’m his favourite niece! He came over last week and I told him all about your comic! He’d love to meet you.” the vixen said with a smile like artificial sweetener, basking in the instant praise she received form his classmates for being such a “good friend”.

Nathaniel could feel his eye twitch slightly at the liar’s words. Stan Lee? The comic book legend who had been dead for two years? Of course, he’d love a meeting! Where would it be? The afterlife?

Nathaniel bit back his sarcastic thoughts, faintly remembering the days when he felt confident in saying what he wanted. The days he now sincerely missed. He shook away his thoughts and forced the most convincing smile he had onto his face. He hoped he looked apologetic.

“No thanks, Lila. I’m good where I am right now.” He said, gripping his pencil tightly. Instantly, Alya’s once happy expression soured and she began to glare at Nathaniel. Lila began to put up her innocent little princess act.

“Why?” she pouted. “I just wanted to help.”

“Yeah, Nath!” he winced again at Alya using his friends’ nickname for him. “Lila just wants to give you a boost!”

Like he needed it. He and Marc were already officially published and had a rapidly expanding fanbase; no favours or boosts needed, thank you very much.

“Sorry Alya, but I want to make it big on my own work, not favours.” Nathaniel hoped he sounded sincere despite the voice in the back of his head sneering about their stupidity.

“I just wanted to help you, Nath! Do you not like me?” Lila began to sniffle. Just like she would do when Marinette attempted to call her out. Oh crap.

“I- “Nathaniel attempted to speak but the others began to speak over him, jumping to conclusions as they always did when they thought someone was being mean to them.

“Why don’t you like her, Nath?”

“Yeah, she’s just trying to help!”

“Why are you being such a jerk!?”

“Don’t you trust, Lila?”

“You’re acting like Marinette!” Alya spat her former best friend’s name like it was a cruse. Nathaniel clenched his feet and stood angrily, finally sick of his classmates and their stupidity.

“I’d rather be like Marinette than a mindless sheep!” he snapped at Alya angrily.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” the reporter demanded; eyes narrowed at the redheaded artist.

“What do you think it means, Alya?” Nathaniel snapped back. “How can you honestly treat Marinette like _she’s_ the bad guy! She would never do any of the things Lila says she does!”

The class immediately glared at him for daring to speak against their beloved Lila. Nathaniel could have cared less. He felt almost confident, almost like the last two years of hiding away had been a fantasy. Like he was still…. _That._

“A-Are you saying I’m lying!” Lila wailed. “You’re just like Marinette!”

Nathaniel clenched his fists tighter as he listened to his classmates accuse him, berate him and demand he apologize. He turned to Alix; his eyes boring into hers.

“How can you say that about Lila, Nath?” she asked, scowling.

“How can you believe her over Marinette? We’ve known her for years and we barely know Lila. A couple promises and you leave her behind!” He yelled.

“She’s a bully, Nath!” Alix argued. “And right now, you’re a bully too.”

That struck Nathaniel like a bullet to the chest. Nathaniel was many things but a bully was not one of them. He never would be a bully and Alix knew how much he hated bullies. His supposed best friend.

“No, she isn’t. You’re the ones acting like bullies.” He said softly, forcing back any tears that wanted to break loose. Whatever confidence he had before diminished. He looked around him at the glares of his classmates and was horribly reminded that he was just the “shy kid”. He couldn’t do anything, he couldn’t help. He hadn’t been able to for two years.

He needed to leave. Nathaniel reached for his pages but in that moment, Lila smacked the glass of juice that resided on the table across the pages, destroying them in an instant.

“Oh! I’m so sorry, Nathaniel! I’m so clumsy!” she cried, sniffling and playing the victim to hide her smug smile. It was as if to say _“That’s what you get for siding with Marinette.”_.

Nathaniel was frozen, gaping like a fish as he saw his work destroyed by the sticky juices, blurring the pencil and ink on the paper. Months of all-nighters, wrist cramps, migraines and running on purely caffeine just going down the drain. What was wrong with Lila!? Did she forget that this was his _work_ , how he made money? Does she even care about the effort he had put into it, that he could _sue_ her for this?

Nathaniel met Alya’s gaze, feeling himself cower under her glare as she comforted Lila. What was he thinking? He didn’t have the ability to stop Lila, to make her pay for what she had done to both him and Marinette. His confidence, his determination from those days was gone. No one would listen to him. No justice would be served.

He gathered his things, catching the smug smile on Lila’s face as he walked out of the room, holding his sopping wet and destroyed work and resisting the urge to cry.

* * *

Chloe Bourgeois was the least liked person in school and she was very proud of this fact. She worked hard to maintain her Queen Bitch status and wore that title like a badge of honour. She was the Regina George, the Heather Chandler, the top mean girl. Many would call her selfish, spoiled, wicked etc. but Chloe would call herself honest. At least she had the decency not to lie about her meanness. And that was why she was on top. She owned this school and everyone knew it. Nobody would dare try to take it from her.

At least until that poorly dressed vixen showed her face.

Chloe could see through the little fake within seconds. Her father was the mayor, after all, leaving the politician’s daughter plenty of experience with liars. She could smell the lies pouring off the Italian as if the girl had bathed in the most horrendously pungent perfume in France.

Lila Rossi lied more than she breathed and every lie was so outrageous that Chloe would spend her afternoons laughing over the latest lies. Friends with Ladybug? Visits to Achu? Saved Jagged Stone’s kitten? Chloe found it both hilarious and pathetic how her classmates had believed the girl so easily.

Rossi had them eating out of the palm of her hand doing everything for her; carrying her books, taking notes for her, buying her lunch and even changing the seats so she could sink her little claws into Adrien. She used and manipulated the class’ weak little hearts to get what she wanted, showing not a scrap of remorse as she lied about having disabilities and injuries to obtain their sympathy.

Now Chloe was a bitch but not even she would stoop so low.

She didn’t call Lila out, though. She wasn’t a goody-two-shoes like Marinette was. Let the fools suffer for their idiocy, let Rossi have her fun for a little while. After all, how long could her little game of pretend actually last?

Turns out, it lasted much longer than Chloe had anticipated.

It would seem that Chloe had been right all those times she had called her class stupid. They had continued to believe Rossi’s lies, denying any possibility that the girl was a pathological liar. They would crowd around her like she was goddamn royalty to listen to her grand stories and fawn over every word. And the girl would sit there, soaking up the attention, basking in their weak-minded praise and when someone – usually Marinette - dared call her out, she would turn on the waterworks and her flock of sheep would turn into snarling wolves in an instant.

Chloe despised the girl, having seen many like her over the years; both from her father’s world of politics and her own world of selfish teenagers. Lila Rossi was a girl who would lie, cheat and steal to get what she wanted, not caring about the consequences because she was convinced that she was queen of the world. Or school in this case.

But Chloe was the only queen bee in this school and she’d be damned if she was going to let a sausage-haired fashion disaster take that from her!

Chloe, unlike the class, was well aware that the occasionally envied Akuma Class had become the laughing stock of François Dupont. The others may be to absorbed in themselves to be aware of the rest of the school but Chloe wasn’t. How else would she maintain her status outside the classroom? And besides, it was easy when the entire school was mocking the class for their stupidity.

It appeared that only the Akuma Class had actually fallen for Lila’s lies, while the rest of the school had used their common sense. Chloe could hear their whispers, their muffled laughter whenever they saw Rossi and her sheep passed by, oblivious to their words. And if they ever did hear them, Lila would start her crying act once again and make the poor soul out to be a bully for telling the truth just like she had done to Marinette.

Marinette.

Chloe couldn’t even pretend not to feel sympathy for the girl. She may have been playing the bully to her for the last two years but Lila had taken anything Chloe may have done to a new level.

Chloe knew Marinette wouldn’t hesitate to call out the liar, another reason she hadn’t said anything. Marinette had always had a strong moral compass, had always been perhaps a little too nice, even in the old days. She was sure Marinette would have put Lila in her place but she hadn’t anticipated how far gone the class was, nor how strong Lila’s hold on them was. Not that that wouldn’t have stopped Marinette from sorting out liars before.

Perhaps Marinette had slipped a little too far into her role as class sweetheart, as the nice girl who helped everyone. Chloe had been almost unnerved when she first realised how Marinette had changed, becoming far too willing to do things for their classmates, make them free stuff and take on more work than even she could manage. The others never noticed, other than the few who had known her before and Nathaniel. Everyone else was too happy taking advantage of Marinette’s kindness.

And that just made what Lila was doing even worse. Every time Marinette had called her out, Lila had turned the tables, played victim and made the class doubt Marinette. The vixen said she was picking on her, said she was being jealous over a shared crush. Chloe had dared say she felt disgusted at how easily even Marinette’s little blogger bestie had turned on her, glaring at her and berating her for “being mean to Lila”. After everything she had done for them with not even a thank you in return, and they had doubted her.

Marinette had fought back at first but then she fell silent, just avoiding Lila altogether and seething in silence. That wasn’t the Marinette Chloe knew at all. She had a hunch it had something to do with Adrien, sweet, sheltered Adrien who was oblivious to most social situations around him. He was the only one Marinette would do such a thing for and Chloe knew how much her childhood friend hated conflict. But even so, those months had been quiet, with Lila only doing the occasional whine but her to get her way.

But then the expulsion happened. The stupid, ridiculous expulsion made on faulty evidence and the word of a liar. Principal Damocles was lucky the akumas got to him before she did, otherwise she would have shredded that fool to pieces with her own hands and have Sabrina hide the body.

Afterwards, everything had went downhill for not only Marinette, but herself too. Lila had blamed injuries of Marinette, said she was cyberbullying her, calling hr names, pushing her in the halls, ruining her homework and guess what the class did to Marinette in return; exactly what Lila had told the baker’s daughter had done to her. It was ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous!

And while they made Marinette suffer, Lila took joy in trying to tear away the school from Chloe’s clutches. She was determined to take her place as the queen of the school, spreading rumours and attempting to humiliate her in front of everyone. But if Chloe was one thing, it was stubborn. When the heiress made up her mind on something, she would never budge on it, not ever. And she would never let Lila get what she wanted.

So, Lila upped her antics, doing the same as she did with Marinette. Blaming things on Chloe, making up lies and even dared attempt to manipulate Sabrina away from her. Chloe was most pissed on that last one. She may pretend to treat her like a servant but Sabrina had been her best friend since she was four years old, Sabrina was possibly her closest friend, the one she wasn’t ashamed to show true emotions around, the one she would protect to the end of the earth.

Sabrina hadn’t fallen for it thank goodness but Chloe still feared losing the girl. Lila had already taken away all of Marinette’s friends, who said she wouldn’t try taking away Chloe’s again?

It enraged Chloe that the liar was trying to take her title of queen bee. Despite her horrible exterior, Chloe knew how to run the school, she had the experience of running it. She may not be doing it the way she did, but she was school royalty and the vixen should respect that.

She couldn’t let Lila win because it would mean she had failed. After years of being deemed a failure by her mother, Chloe couldn’t have her royal title stripped away from her, not after all the work she had put towards getting where she was, not after she had built herself on her title. It was her comfort, her role. To have it taken away would be even worse than losing Sabrina.

Chloe shook away her worried thoughts and slammed her locker closed, storming towards the cafeteria. Sabrina was off for the day and it had left her with no distraction from Rossi’s little posse and their attempts to bully her into submission. So far, her locker had been vandalised, her latest photo collage spray-painted and her and Sabrina’s science project smashed.

The heiress narrowly dodged Nathaniel, who was hurrying away, looking ready to cry as he carried what looked like a bunch of destroyed comic pages. Chloe pursed her lips at that. Nathaniel, much like Marinette, had fallen deep into his role as the “background character”, all his hard-earned confidence from not so long ago fading away. The old Nathaniel wouldn’t have run away, wouldn’t have hid his biting comments or threats. But Chloe could understand how hard it was for him to be confident without the comfort of his title anymore.

She instead walked by the group of sheep and their leader, dressed just as terribly as always. She scowled at them, raising an eyebrow when Alya spotted her.

“What do you want, Chloe?” Alya sneered. Chloe rolled her eyes, eyeing the table they stood around; Nathaniel’s usual table, where a large pool of juice had been spilled right beside Rossi. Of course, the liar had ruined her work because the redhead wasn’t as stupid as her sheep.

“Picking on someone other than Dupain-Cheng, Rossi? Let me guess, he didn’t believe your bullshit?” she snapped at the Italian crossing her arms. Lila faux-gasped and begin to put her pathetic, innocent-little-girl act.

“No! How could you be so horrible, Chloe? Why does everyone think I’m lying? Am I that unlikable?” she whimpered to hr group, making them instantly begin to comfort hr assuring her that she was wonderful.

“No, Lila! Don’t think that!”

“You’re great, dude!”

“Don’t listen to Chloe, she’s just a bully!”

Chloe rolled her eyes and scoffed at their behaviour. Alya rounded on her like an attack dog.

“You’re such a bitch!” she yelled angrily; fist clenched. Chloe smirked at the wanna-be reporter, hands on her hips.

“I may be, but at least I’m honest.” She picked at her manicure. “Unlike “Ladybug’s best friend” over there.”

Alay growled and Lila glared at Chloe, both girls trying to stare down the blonde.

“She is Ladybug’s best friend!” Alya snapped. “She’s worth more than you’ll ever be!”

Chloe laughed. Like that little liar could be worth even the dirt she walked on. She landed Alya with a cold glare and her perfected Mean Girl smirk. She pushed passe them towards the counter to get her lunch, waving them off with a simple sentence.

“She wishes. I’m the queen bee, like she’s anything to me.” She sneered and grabbed her lunch tray from the counter in her manicured hands and turning on heel to leave the room with confidence and class.

But then, Alya’s foot stuck out in front of her, tripping the blonde girl. Her try of food splattered all over her designer top and jeans, smearing across the expensive fabric and staining it. Chloe’s mouth hung open in horror and shock as she looked down at her ruined clothes.

“I guess the queen has downgraded to peasant status.” Alya mocked, laughing smugly at her, arms crossed over her chest. The class laughed loudly behind her, other students watching with a range of different reactions. Chloe ignored them, focusing on the words Alya had dared speak to her.

A peasant. She had called her a peasant. She had stripped away her hard-earned title to mock her. It wouldn’t be such a big deal for anyone else but for Chloe it was a whole different story.

It was all she had ever been, it was her niche, her place. She had worked hard to maintain it and here she stood, _mocked_ by a girl who had become a bully to her own best friend based on the words of a liar. _Laughed_ at by the class she had ran for years. _Humiliated_ in front of her peers.

Chloe bit back her anger and stormed out of the cafeteria, eyes stinging as she went in search of Sabrina and a clean set of clothes.

* * *

Nathaniel entered his house, letting the door slam closed behind him. He marched passed his older sister who was working at the kitchen island, ignoring her questions of how school had been. She knew better than to follow him; Nathaniel needed to be alone right now.

He entered his room and locked the door, dropping his school bag on the ground, uncaring as the contents of it spilled out across the floor. He collapsed into his desk chair, putting his head in his hands dejectedly. He avoided looking at the ruined pages of his comic, refusing to start crying again.

Marc has been upset when he told him what happened - not at Nathaniel, thankfully – because not only had Lila damaged their work, but they couldn’t make their deadline now. Their comic would need t be delayed for another month at least!

Nathaniel felt bad about that alone, but he felt even worse about it because he could have _done_ something. He _should_ have done something! He’d done something about bullies for years and now, now he cowered in fear of them!?

Nathaniel sighed brokenly turned to his desk. Like the rest of his room, it was an organised mess; stray papers and sketches lying around, mugs of forgotten half-drunk coffee collecting off to the side, a pile of sketchbooks ever growing beside his drawing tablet, pencils everywhere. On the wall above, was a messy collage of sketches concept art and photographs. Most of the photos were of him and Marc, the rest being of his family and friends.

His heart hurt a little when he saw a selfie, he had taken with Alix at last year’s comic book convention, and again when he saw their class photo, the one where Juleka finally got a good class photo. He ignored both pictures, instead reaching out for a much older one, plucking it off the wall.

It had been taken over three years ago, before this whole mess, before Lie-la Rossi had showed up. Back when he wasn’t just the “kid in the back”, back when he was confident and unafraid of bullies.

He felt like he had fallen too deep into his role, that the acts they had been putting up had consumed them; Marinette had become too much of a pushover, Chloe would go too far in her bullying and he had lost the confidence he had struggled to build up in the first place.

He looked at the photo with sad eyes, missing those days. Before this whole mess had started. He missed being that Nathaniel, missed having confidence, missed being able to do something about liars like Lila Rossi.

Now, he’d watched as Lila tormented Marinette. He had _let_ her. He should have spoken up sooner, but no one ever listened. He’d put up with Lila’s lies and hid away. He’d put up with everything going on around him until his comic had been destruction of his comic, until even Alix began to turn on him for the liar. That was it, that was the last straw for Nathaniel.

He set down the photo and stood from his chair, dropping to his knees on the floor beside his bed. He reached under the bed, fingers latching onto the bottom of the outside panel and lifting slightly until he heard a click. He pulled open the secret drawer, eyes landing on the safely hidden contents that he had had not looked at it in nearly two years.

His attention was drawn specifically to the neatly folded blazer, the garment being a deep red, like the colour of blood. A small golden pin rested on top of the blazer, shiny and glinting in the sun rays that entered the room through the open window.

He reached out for the blazer, his finger tips grazing the fabric gently as he reminisced on how it felt when he had worn it, how wonderful it had been to feel like he was someone, that he was doing something. Part of him wanted to wear that blazer again more than anything.

His fingers had only just grabbed hold of the golden pin when he heard his phone vibrate on his desk top, a familiar text tone filling the room. Nathaniel dropped the pin back into the drawer and swiftly grabbed hold of his phone, hoping his mind was playing tricks on him and he had not heard it correctly.

He opened up his phone and stared down at the message, the small words looking scarily bold as though they were about to leap off the screen.

Slowly, his eyes glanced back at the blazer and pin. A small smile spread across his face.

* * *

Chloe was not in a mood for anyone as she stormed into her bedroom after school had ended. Sabrina, like the godsend she was, had some spare clothes in her locker. They were not Chloe’s taste but given that her only other option was to walk around covered in school cafeteria food, she would gladly wear Sabrina’s stupid panda sweater.

The blonde dumped her ruined outfit into the laundry and removed Sabrina’s clothes in favour of her warm Queen Bee inspired pajamas. She collapsed on her bed, grabbing Mr Cuddly and scowling.

Chloe would never in a million years admit that she cried for a good half hour afterwards but she did. She cried sadly as she thought over what had happened. She should have been able to brush it off, walk away with her head held high like always but this was the last straw.

Chloe had always relied on her title, her role as the school’s queen bee. She felt proud of it, after all, her father, while loving, was too busy to be proud and her mother had never been proud of anything she had done. As the school’s ruler, she’d had a role, a place, a reason to keep working. She may have been disliked and mean, but she had worked hard to maintain it. Sure, she acted like a brat and she could be one, but that never diminished that she had done her job, filled her role as class rep until Marinette was voted in, kept people in check, pulled strings when she had to.

To be called a peasant, especially by that lying little bitch, hurt more than she wanted to admit. It was like everything she had worked for, everything she had tried so hard to achieve had been tossed in a wood chipper and spat on. Like her very identity had been crushed under the tacky heeled boot of a conniving vixen.

Chloe sighed as she stood from her bed, wandering over to her wardrobe. Her dried tears felt sticky on her cheeks as she opened up the wardrobe, pushing all her clothes over to one side so she could see the sidewall of the closet. She pressed down on the wall, making the panel pop open and slid it across so she could see the inside of the little hidden section of her wardrobe.

Inside hung a neatly pressed yellow blazer, a sparkling gold pin attached to the velvety fabric. She unhooked the hanger and hung it up on her closet door, stepping back and sitting on her bed again. She gazed at the blazer almost longingly, feeling nostalgic as she saw it.

She hated to admit that she missed those days, before Rossi or even Adrien, before they put up these acts. She missed the days when being the ruler of the school was less a way to fill a hole in her heart and more of a duty that came with acceptance and an amazing thrill, that she found she could not replicate. She missed feeling accepted, being cared about and respected by her peers rather than hated.

She let out a groan of frustration and fell back on her bed, crossing her arms huffily across her chest. And that was when she heard a text tone emit from her phone, a text tone she had set several years ago and hadn’t heard in a long time.

Chloe grabbed her phone, eyes wide as she read the simple message. Her signature wicked smirk crossed her face, her blue eyes landing on her blazer once more.

* * *

Marinette had put up with a lot of things since Lila Rossi returned to her class, hellbent of destroying her reputation.

She had put up with the class sitting her at the back of the class without talking to her beforehand. She had put up with Ms Bustier telling her to be an “example”. She had put up with the class’ ignorance and idiocy that led them to believe Lila’s bullshit. She had put up with Alya calling her jealous and abandoning her. She had put up with the shoving, the name calling, the vandalism, the rumours, the tripping, the backstabbing, the betrayal and so much more from her own classmates. She had put up with the stress and pressure and exhaustion with no help.

She had put up with all of it. She had done as Adrien asked of her and didn’t cause trouble. She didn’t expose her; she just kept her mouth shut and waited. She waited and waited for her classmates, her _friends_ to realise Lila was lying. She hoped and prayed for them to fact check, to look up her stories, to use their common sense but it didn’t happen.

She still hoped it would, hoped that all the pain and loneliness would go away and Adrien was right, that they would realise it in their own time but it never happened. Everything just got worse and worse.

Marinette had very nearly lost it when the liar had gotten her expelled. It was an outrage how the teachers handled it, ridiculous at how easily Principal Damocles bent to Lila’s whims, how not a single one of them came to her defence. She had seen the few who had retained braincells try, but they were drowned out by the words of the liar and an incompetent Principal.

It didn’t matter that she had gotten unexpelled in the end; it was impossible to erase how hurt she had felt at that moment, to erase the doubt in Marinette Lila had spread amongst her followers. As the weeks had passed, Lila had begun to make Marinette look like the bully, convince her former friends that she had been picking on Lila in every way possible, from pushing in the halls to cyberbullying her. All it took was some crocodile tears and the class had turned on her, bullying her like she supposedly had bullied Lila.

She was angry and hurt and fractured by it but she had held on. At least until Alya had stormed up to her one day in the courtyard and screamed at her for “assaulting” Lila, said Italian hanging behind her covered in make-up she had made look like bruises on her face.

Alya had called her a bully, a jealous, lying, selfish bully. Marinette tried so hard to defend herself but she could hardly get a word in. Alya had called her so many other names, all before she declared that they were no longer friends and never would be again before storming away to comfort Lila.

It had practically broken Marinette that day. She had sobbed in her room for hours, almost the entire weekend at the loss of her best friend, not even Tikki’s comforting words able to sooth her. She had entered that school on Monday like a broken doll, too damaged to do anything when they pushed her around like usual.

She went to Adrien but her sheltered crush just insisted it would blow over. As much as she cared for him, he was oblivious to the real world. She wanted to scream and cry and sob and even punch him until he got it through his head that people _were_ getting hurt. That _she_ was getting hurt by the lies.

But she didn’t have the energy. She just focused herself elsewhere, avoiding her class where she could and throwing herself into her commission work and saving Paris. She let her bitterness simmer deep inside, bottling it up as tight as she could manage just so she could get through the day.

She had suffered in silence, letting them call her names and torment her each day. Part of Marinette began to see how fake her supposed friends had been. They had always asked her for stuff, always made her take responsibility made hr organise everything they did. And she had. She had done all of it and she did it for free.

She wasted so much time, energy and money on giving them sweets and parties, babysitting for free even when she had no time and had mad so many free commissions. Some paid, yes, but everyone else? Alya? No, they got it all for free. Did they even know how much money they had cost her?

It made their betrayal so much worse. Marinette had bent over backwards for them time and time again and they believe a liar they had known a few weeks over someone who had dedicated time and care to every one of them.

She’d gone soft. Too soft. She’d fulfilled her role as the “clumsy class sweetheart” to the point where she had slipped down the rabbit hole and got lost in the act.

Marinette had remained silent and stoic to all the bullying and verbal abuse, trying her best to ignore them. She’d been doing well, staying as far away from Lila as possible. She had focused on her work and that was that. She was calm and collected. She had put up with everything they threw at her with little response.

But this was something she couldn’t put up with.

She had been looking for her sketchbook at the end of school, frantic until she had discovered it in her vacant classroom, on her desk… torn to shreds.

She had had no words as she stared at the destroyed book, which had been filled with all her commission work for _paying_ customers. All her work had been destroyed, unsalvageable. The hit this would have to her business would be _lethal._

A note in orange ink lay on top of it.

_This is what you get for stealing Lila’s designs!_

Marinette had grabbed the pile of her sketchbook’s remains and left the school, making her way home. Her parents had gone to greet her warmly when they saw the destroyed sketchbook, horror and rage instantly crossing their faces. Marinette had said nothing more than hello and went into her room upstairs.

Her parents shared a worried glance, knowing full well that whoever damaged that book may not see the sun shine ever again.

Marinette set down her torn apart sketchbook calmly, Tikki floating out of her bag and trued to console her holder but Marinette was silent. The blue-haired girl had gazed down at her ruined sketchbook for several tense minutes.

She contemplated Adrien’s advice. The advice she had been following for so many months of despair.

“Take the high road, Marinette!”

Fuck the high road.

“Marinette-!”

The young designer whipped around, footsteps thundering as she stormed to her desk, leaning down to yank a baby-blue storage box out from under her side-desk violently in her anger. She threw off the lid with such force that Tikki hid behind Marinette’s chaise lounge. The girl pulled out the contents of the box, placing them onto the chaise lounge with a grim face. Tikki peered at them, eyeing the deep blue blazer and golden pin Marinette had set before her.

She had let Lila Rossi play queen for far too long. She had let her worm her way in and think she was queen, ruling her kingdom of sheep from her throne of lies and false promises. They had let her.

But this? This was the last straw.

So, standing over the remains of her destroyed sketchbook, Marinette Dupain-Cheng texted into a chat she had not touched for two years.

**The Aces**

**\--------------------**

**Blue Ace: _We're Back._**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Looks like Lila's messed with the wrong kids.
> 
> Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it.  
> I've been dying to make a HBIC Marinette story since I discovered the trope. I wanted to make a group of them be the HBIC like I've seen before, like the Heathers or The Plastics (especially since I became addicted to listening to Candy Store and World Burn) but I just couldn't get it right until I read the fic by BooksRBetterThanPeople called HBBIC (Head Bitches & Bastard In Charge). It was a huge inspiration and I really hope they read this and enjoy it.  
> I also hope that you like my versions of the characters. I love Badass!Marinette and Badass!Nathaniel and I have found a love for writing Chloe as a protective little shit. And for the record, I don't hate Alya, but after season one, the way they wrote her character became very inconsistent and made her rather dislikeable personality-wise when it came to the Lila situation. I love writing salt. In my eyes, Canon Alya and Salt Alya are two completely different characters, since I like the former but only enjoy writing the latter, okay.  
> Next Chapter will be out soon!  
> Feel free to comment and leave kudos!


	2. I Wanna Watch the World Burn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Aces plan to burn Lila Rossi's precious little kingdom down to the ground.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Miraculous Ladybug. That belongs to Thomas Astruc, Zagtoon and associated companies. I am just a fan who lives to write the destruction of Lila Rossi.  
> And yes, the chapter title comes from World Burn from the Mean Girls musical.

**The Aces**

**\--------------------**

**Blue Ace: _We're Back._**

****

Chloe’s devious smirk faltered slightly as she re-read the text from Marinette as she wondered; _Why?_

Marinette had been taking the class’ treatment of her in total silence, marching on like a soldier with a battle wound in the middle of a war. She fought back and put up with their treatment, trying to hold her head up high for months now so why would she suddenly want to reform the group?

Marinette was one of the most stubborn people Chloe had ever met. Once that girl decided she was going to do something, it would take nothing short of a bulldozer to stop her. And she had seemed pretty set on fighting through the class’ treatment of her on her own, not wanting to drag anyone into the mess Lila had created. Something very, _very_ bad must have happened to push Marinette to decide a comeback was needed.

**Yellow Ace: I’m in. I’m assuming it’s Rossi we’re gunning for?**

**Blue Ace: Who else?**

**Yellow Ace: What’d she do now? She already ruined my favourite top!**

**Red Ace: I’m definetly in. Bitch Rossi decided to destroy months of my work at lunch.**

**Red Ace: What did she do to finally make you snap?**

**Blue Ace: She crossed the line**

**Blue Ace: She did this**

**Blue Ace: *(image.PNG) ***

Chloe nearly dropped her phone when she saw the ruined sketchbook. Who the hell thought it was a good idea to destroy Marinette’s sketchbook!? The entire school knew she had a business to run! That she was Jagged Stone and Clara Nightingale’s go-to designer! How could any of those fools possibly think it would be okay to destroy her sketchbook? They could have set back weeks of work for Marinette.

And Nathaniel too? What the hell had he done to have Lila ruin his comic book?

Nathaniel had been an introverted, shy artist for as long as Chloe had known him, even if he was especially introverted these last few years. He was not someone who would catch the attention of Rossi, especially as a threat. He kept his head down, knowing he would not be listened to by their class and let the make fools out of themselves. They could embarrass themselves if they wanted; a shared opinion between them.

It was why they got along so well; behind the mist they had created to make the world think she bullied him. She may have gotten carried away, yes, but they were friends and that was something that would never change. She and Nathaniel shared a similar sense in humour, one that drove Marinette mad in the years they had known each other.

**Red Ace: Tell me that isn’t your commission book**

**Blue Ace: Wish I could. Everything was in there including the design for Clara’s dress to the awards ceremony**

Chloe gripped the phone tightly in anger on her friend’s behalf. She was partly amazed Marientte hadn’t hunted them down like dogs and ripped their throats out. Ever since they were little, Marinette was viciously protective of her sketchbooks and last time someone had damaged them… well Chloe had nearly had to call an ambulance.

* * *

Marinette stood in her room, holding her phone in a death grip as she thought of how many commissions, she was going to lose because of what her class had done. How could they be so stupid? Did they not care about the work and effort that had went into those designs at all?

She scoffed at her own thoughts, recalling all the freebies she had given them. They had never even appreciated all that work when they got it for free.

Tikki looked worriedly up at her chosen, floating out from behind the chaise lounge and over to Marinette, landing on her shoulder. She could feel the anger, the rage, the _pain_ coming off her in waves. The Kwami nuzzled Marinette’s cheek softly in attempt to comfort her. Some tension left Marinette’s shoulders slightly as she felt the warmth radiate from Tikki. She leaned her head a little closer to the tiny god.

She watched the dotted lines on the screen intensely.

**Yellow Ace: That bitch. I’m assuming you’re out for blood**

**Blue Ace: Nothing less**

Marientte tightened her grip on the phone again. She took her designs very seriously, to the point where she would beat someone into the ground for messing with them. And after all that little liar had done; lied to the class, threatened her, bullied her, took her friends, got her expelled and ruined her reputation, she had gone after her designs, her livelihood.

Lila Rossi was lucky she was only out for her blood.

**Red Ace: That sausage-haired brat needs to go**

**Blue Ace: Not just her.**

**Blue Ace: Bustier, Damocles and our dear classmates need to learn a lesson too**

**Blue Ace: Chloe, we’ll meet at the hotel. Tomorrow, 11:30, sharp.**

**Yellow Ace: No problem Mari**

**Red Ace: See you there**

“Chloe? The Aces?” Tikki questioned quizzically. “Marinette, what is going on?”

Marientte sat down her phone, going back to the blue storage box and retrieving a shoebox from it, the box covered in a blue and pink flower pattern, an ace of spades made of gold scrapbook paper decorating the top. She sat at her desk, setting the box down and pulling off the lid much more gently than she had the other box.

Tikki floated over to see inside the box, eyeing the contents curiously. Inside was an assortment of various items, like old sketchbooks and trinkets such as a cat keychain and photos. Marinette pulled out some of the photographs, holding them up for Tikki to see clearly.

The photo was of Marinette, about twelve-years-old, beaming at the camera. She had each of her arms thrown around someone. On her left was Chloe, smiling brightly at the camera rather than sneering, her own arms wrapped around Marinette in a hug. And to Marinette’s right was Nathaniel, his bangs hiding one of his eyes as usual but had a grin on his face. Tikki’s already large eyes widened dramatically as she looked over the photo again and again, sure she was seeing things.

“You used to be friends with Chloe?” Tikki gasped. “And Nathaniel?”

“Yep. We still are, even if we don’t talk much.” Marinette said, showing Tikki another photo of the trio. The Kwami gaped in confusion.

“But I thought- But Chloe bullied you!” she exclaimed, her confusion almost doubling.

“Not really. We all put up an act.” Marientte smirked. “Chloe was the school bully; I was the clumsy sweetheart and Nathaniel was the hidden introvert. We used it to make people think we truly had disbanded and uncover bully enablers like Ms Bustier.”

Tikki stared at her chosen with a shocked expression, little jaw hanging loose.

“So, all those things she did to you – the stealing, the vandalism, the name-calling – none of it was real?” Tikki’s asked in shock, unable to believe the girl that she had thought was her chosen’s bully, was actually her friend.

“None of it.” Marinette smiled. Tikki’s puzzled face looked like she was trying to read one of Ms Mendeleiev’s most complicated equations, almost unable to compute what her holder was telling her.

“It’s a shock, huh?” the girl smirked at her Kwami. Tikki blinked and sat down on the desk.

“And you’re friends with Nathaniel too?” she asked. Marinette nodded.

“Yeah, since we were tots. Were best friends for years, but we knew we had to pretend we weren’t any more if we wanted to make everyone think we really had disbanded and that they were safe from our wrath.” Marinette put away the photos, closing the box.

“Disbanded? Is this to do with the Aces? What are The Aces?” Tikki questioned. Marinette nodded again and began to explain everything to her Kwami.

“The Aces were me, Chloe and Nathaniel. Like the ace of spades.” Marientte tapped the ace on the box lid. “The ace of spades is considered the most important card in a deck, like we were considered the most important in the school.”

The designer stood from her chair, walking around her room as she talked.

“You see, the three of us ran the entire school for years, long before Adrien or Alya or Lila showed up.” Marinette spat the liar’s name like a slur. “Up until nearly two years ago, we were The Three Aces, the untouchable rulers of the school. We would take down bullies, get rid of liars like Lila, get rid of incompetent teachers and keep everyone in check. No one wanted to mess with us.”

Marinette opened up her trunk, glaring down at the many presents she had made for Adrien and her classmates. She had put mountains of hard work into them, and had never gotten anything in return. She had been taken advantage of, too nice to say no to their demands that she make them things and organise parties and trips when it wasn’t even her job. And Adrien, her once beloved crush.

He betrayed her, just differently form her former friends. He hadn’t backed her up, he hadn’t supported her even when she complied to his spineless advice. She still cared for the boy but he was oblivious to the real world. After months of feeling miserable, of being hurt because he cared more about a _liar’s_ feelings getting hurt than his actual friend’s feelings, Marientte refused to let her feelings for him continue.

She’d been obsessed. It wasn’t healthy at all and Alya’s pushiness about it certainly didn’t help. Now she knew had never really knew Adrien, certainly not enough to be in love with him. Perhaps she could forgive his obliviousness and passiveness with time – if he apologized, that is – but she was done with him and his high road.

And she was done with her classmates and their demands that wasted not only her hard-earned money but also her time. Every gift and “commission” was getting sold online to make up for the wasted materials and efforts from the past.

“Marinette?” Tikki said after the girl had been silent for several minutes. Marinette shook out of her thoughts and turned back to her Kwami.

“So, you were in charge of the school?” Tikki prompted her chosen out of whatever negative thoughts she was having. Marinette felt tension leave her shoulders as she smiled and continued to explain.

“Exactly. We were feared by everyone, but we were respected, too. A lot of kids even admired us for getting rid of their bullies and crappy teachers. The whole school was grateful for what we did. We had all the connections and power to purge the school of bullies and enablers.” Marinette said. “You didn’t ever want to cross us.”

“So why did you disband? Or make everyone think you disbanded?” Tikki asked, sitting in Marinette’s palm. The pigtailed-girl smiled.

“We weren’t really needed anymore. Or so we thought. Kids stopped bullying; teachers did their jobs; everything was at peace.” She said but something dark was in her eyes. “We decided we would pretend to disband, pull everyone into a sense of false security so that when that peace was disrupted, we could return. We decided we’d each have an act to play; make people stop fearing us, treat us like normal students. And to see if anyone would do anything.”

Marinette sat back in her desk chair, glaring at the photos of her class on her wall.

“You saw how nobody stood up for me when Chloe “bullied” me. How Ms Bustier made me be her example and told us to be the bigger person rather than actual punish the bully. She blatantly blames the _victim_. And Damocles’ favouritism is obvious.” She gritted her teeth together. “We’ve been lying in wait, just waiting for the right moment to come back and ruin them. Admittedly, we got pretty sucked into our roles, enough to put it off for a while but Lila is something else.”

Marinette glanced at the photos on her wall again, specifically of Alya. Her “best friend” that so easily left her behind. Tikki put a comforting paw on her palm, eyes encouraging her to continue.

“Lila is so much worse than any bully we’ve dealt with before. She’s ruthless in everything she does. She doesn’t care about what she destroys or who she hurts so long as she gets what she wants. She twists everything with not an ounce of remorse. At least all the others knew destroying stuff like my sketchbook or Nathaniel’s comic book could result in some serious consequences, that lying about celebrities and charities and trips could get them into legal trouble.” Marientte said bitterly. “And she’s got the class on her side and she doesn’t seem to be stopping there. She thinks she queen of the school.”

Marinette scowled at the class photos on her wall.

“And my class needs to learn a lesson. They doubted me, forgot everything they knew about me after so many years and bullied me all on the word of a liar. The Aces are still infamous across the entire school; everyone still remembers what we did for them, remembers how we crushed every bully that entered that school, remembers what _I_ did for them all. And even after all that, they took advantage of my kindness, of my talents, my connections and then said _I_ was a _bully_. That ends _now_.” Marinette said, voice as cold as ice, her gaze stony as it bore into the class photo.

“But Marinette! You tried so many times to get them to listen and they never did!” Tikki exclaims, worried as to how her holder would be able to expose the liar.

“That was just me, Tikki. That wasn’t the Blue Ace.” Marinette’s small smile was terrifying to look at, being almost sinister. “An even then, that’s nothing compared to all three of us.”

* * *

Nathaniel sat in the back of his sister’s town car, having hitched a ride with her as she was on her way to another fancy business meeting for their father’s company. He scrolled through his phone lazily, bags under his eyes after staying up all night to try to redraw some of the ruined comic pages.

He was dressed a little differently from his normal attire, having put on black skinny jeans and a dark purple band t-shirt on before he grabbed the red leather jacket Marinette had gifted him for his birthday a while ago. He had decided he wanted to wear more of his signature Red Ace colour. It just felt more natural to, now that they were back.

He sat on his phone for some time, trying to ignore the side glances Wanda was giving him every few minutes as she sorted through the paperwork for her meeting. After twenty minutes of it, he finally got sick of her glances and shut off his phone.

“What?” he asked his eldest sister. Wanda pretending to be surprised.

“What is it?” she replied, making him frown.

“I could feel your eyes boring into my skull since breakfast. What is it?” he asked her making the twenty-four-year-old smile sheepishly.

“It’s nothing, just…” she said. “Are the Aces back?”

Nathaniel raised an eyebrow is surprise. He didn’t think his sister would notice that, after all, they had been inactive for nearly two years.

“What? You think I didn’t notice?” Wanda laughed. “You’ve been talking about some liar that’s been messing with Mari, you were pissed as hell yesterday because some girl destroyed your comic on purpose, you’re going to meet some friends at Le Grande Paris, y’know, _Chloe’s_ family’s hotel and you haven’t worn this much red for about a year. The Aces are back, aren’t they?”

Nathaniel leaned back in his seat, crossing his arms. He had to admit Wanda was right. She’d always had an eye for detail, just like him, which made her very observant to her several younger siblings.

“Yeah. Liar Rossi went too far yesterday. Destroyed a third of the new comic, according to Marc, humiliated Chloe in the canteen and destroyed Marinette’s commissions sketchbook.” Wanda winced violently as he listed off Lila’s earlier offences.

“Mari’s going to kill her if she can get her hands on her.” She said, remembering how vicious and protective her little brother’s closest friend could get over her design work. “Since you make money off the comic and Mari off her commissions, you have my permission to call up the family lawyer and sue Rossi’s ass.”

“I know.” He grinned wolfishly. Nathaniel sincerely hoped he would get to set the family lawyers on Lila. Maybe even his cousin, too, since the entire legal world feared Amelia Michaels-Kurtzberg.

“Besides, Mari will practically be family since she’s Marc’s cousin.” Wanda smirked at him. Nathaniel blushed bright red at the implication. Wanda and the rest of his siblings took immense delight in implying Marc was going to be their brother-in-law. And Marinette was no better, already calling Nathaniel her “cousin-in-law” and asking what design he wanted for the wedding suit.

“Wanda!” he exclaimed. The older redhead just laughed at him.

“I’m just teasing, Nathie.” He scowled at her for the nickname. “But while we’re on the subject, do you want me to get some of those cookies Marc likes when you two have your date at the house on Sunday?”

“Yeah, that’d be- HEY! Wait a minute, how do you know-?” he shrieked. Wanda just laughed again.

“Gwen’s been texting your boyfriend for ages.” She said, making Nathaniel groan at the prospect of his nosy little sister texting his boyfriend. Was he allowed no privacy in this family!?

They came to a stop outside Le Grande Paris, Nathaniel opening the car door and saying goodbye to his sister. He thanked his sister’s driver and headed inside the hotel as the car sped off.

He entered the large lobby, spotting Marinette standing by the front desk. Like himself, Marinette had taken to wearing more of her Blue Ace colour scheme than her usual pink. The fashion designer was dressed in a dark blue skirt with a very pale pink off-shoulder top paired with navy thigh-high tights. She smiled broadly at him as he approached her.

“Nath! You’re wearing the jacket I made you!” She beamed. Nathaniel was glad to see her smiling, even after having her sketchbook ruined. He was also a little scared for that same reason, because after all the years he had known Marinette, he had learned that for her to be so happy after something like that, she had probably already planned the perpetrator’s doom.

“There you are, Kurtzberg!” Chloe’s voiced sipped as she made her way towards them. “You’re late!”

“By three minutes, Clo.” Nathaniel said, rolling his eyes at her.

“Don’t call me that.” Chloe said, though there was no bite to it. Her words actually sounded rather fond. Her hands were on her hips, her stance radiating its usual sense of authority. She was wearing an expensive-looking, sleeveless yellow turtleneck and stylishly ripped white jeans, standing proud in her three-inch heels.

“Why not?” Nathaniel asked, insecurity creeping into his composure slightly. Maybe they had grown too far apart over the last year for that?

“You lost the right to any nicknames when you started wearing _purple skinny jeans_.” Chloe smirked, words not scathing like they usually would have been but rather humorous. Nathaniel felt relief wash over him and he smiled easily at his friend.

“We can roast Nathaniel’s fashion sense later.” Marinette snickered and the pair followed Chloe to the hotel elevator and up into her bedroom suite. They sat in the lounge area, a tray with three cups on it set out for them already.

“I had Jean bring up some coffee and tea, since unlike you caffeine addicts, I’m civilized.” Chloe said, making Nathaniel snicker and Marinette attempt to defend her precious coffee. Where was the lie, though?

“Alright let’s get down to business.” Marinette said, rummaging through the pink satchel she had brought with her.

“The Rossi situation.” Chloe spat the name; eyes icy as she glared into her cup.

“Yes, the Rossi situation.” Marinette agreed, pulling out some handwritten papers and placing them on the table, all seeming to be detailed notes about not just Lila but Alya, Bustier and Damocles, too.

“How I see it, we can’t go after Lila straight away; the class will defend her like attack dogs and Damocles and Bustier will let her get away with everything.” Marinette said, showing them diagram she had drawn; a pyramid split in three horizontally, the bottom labelled “Class”, the middle “Teachers” and the top was labelled “Lila”.

“We need to break down her defences before we go for the root of the problem.” Nathaniel agreed. It made sense.

Their class was very dedicated to Lila, defending her like if she got even a little upset, the world would end. Or they would lose all those connections she promised them. They needed to get passed the class to take down the teachers, since Bustier would very happily let Lila get away with murder and tell the victim’s corpse to be the bigger person. Once Bustier and Damocles were gone, they could get rid of Lila, or at least make her suffer the consequences of her actions.

“We’ll need to deal with them on separate levels. We need to put cracks in her kingdom, make them doubt her enough that they won’t defend her. Bustier and Damocles can be reported to the school board and Lila can dig herself an even deeper hole without them to enable her behaviour.” Chloe smirked deviously. “Then we go in for the kill.”

“Depends on what you mean by "go in for the kill".” Nathaniel said. “Are we going for a reputation massacre or schoolwide arson?”

He casually leaned back in his seat with a fox-like grin.

“I’ll bring the gasoline.” He said, making Marinette groan exasperatedly.

“No- “Chloe cut her off as the blonde typed on her phone.

“Already have our alibis.” She spoke. “Mari, bring the lighter.”

Marinette shook her head, already starting to regret her decision to reform the group.

“No arson! I don’t have enough bail money saved up for both of you.” she deadpanned, remembering the multiple times she honestly feared her friends were going to get arrested for stupid shit.

“Okay, okay. No fire.” Nathaniel laughed at Marinette’s annoyed expression. “But dealing with the class will take forever. Alya is particularly dedicated to Lila. We may be able to make cracks in the kingdom, like Chloe said, but most of them are gonna be crushed when it collapses.”

“I know. There’s only so much we can do in that area.” Marinette sighed. “Lila has a tight grip on them, but if we can spread enough doubt, we can save some of them from the fallout. Nino and Rose are nice to me when Alya and Lila aren’t watching them. I honestly think they’re less “followers” and more like ”prisoners”.” Marinette said.

Nathaniel couldn’t help but agree. As much as he wanted those idiots to suffer, some of them deserve a small chance.

“I say if they cling on, let them. It will be their fault when we ruin her.” Chloe said, frowning. Marinette nodded.

“I will agree there. The others can burn in hell for all I care but I want to give the decent ones some time to realise and apologize for what they’ve done. If they don’t take that chance, then they can burn with the rest of them.” Marinette sneered.

Nathaniel forgot how ruthless Marinette could be when angered. But he didn’t blame her. Most of them had betrayed her and those she might survive her wrath had a long way to go before she could forgive them.

He thought of Alix, his “best friend”. Part of him wanted her to see the light and apologize but the other was angry at her. The other part of him wanted her to suffer a little before he could accept any apology. She was his friend but she hurt him badly when she said he was being a bully.

He had done so much for the school, for her and their classmates. He had been the one that got _her_ bully suspended years ago, back when Alix was new to the school, when a brute of a jock had destroyed her skates after weeks of name calling and shoving in the hallways. It was why she wanted to be his friend in the first place after The Aces disbanded, wanted to get to know the shy kid that helped her.

It was how they had first met, him getting rid of that bully and much like the class had done to Marinette, forgetting everything she had stood for, for _years_ , Alix had called him a bully.

Maybe she never really knew him at all if she could so easily forget that.

He pushed away his thoughts in favour of listening to Marinette as she showed them her notes, where she had listed every lie and offense Lila and their teachers had committed, carefully planning out their comeback and Lila’s destruction

* * *

“Chloe, I need you to call up Aurore and get her to spread the word about us coming back.” Marinette said, making Chloe nod curtly.

Chloe was filled with a wicked delight as they went over their rough plans for Rossi’s doom. It felt nostalgic to sit here, plotting the demise of a tormentor. It gave her a wonderful feeling that she just couldn’t find as a lone ruler, to have these two by her side again. Her role didn’t feel so lonely anymore. Each of them knew they specialized in a specific area in their group and they worked like clockwork together, each bouncing off the other’s ideas.

Marientte had always been the leader, been the one who did the best organization and was the main mastermind behind at least half of their plans. Marinette was the Heather Chandler, the one everyone feared the most because she was as talented as she was ruthless and carried a serious threat considering her list of connections and the number of celebrities that adored her. She could plan and execute your demise within minutes and look cute doing it. Marinette would have people running from her in the halls in fear that she would destroy them with only her piercing stare.

Nathaniel had a wonderful way of being unnoticed and unsuspecting, which was the reason he played the shy artist so easily. Because their dear redhead could so easily slip into the background, he had practically run the rumour mill, observing people closely and gathering blackmail on them. He knew everything about everyone in school, ranging from teachers to the students. But he didn’t even need those secrets to make someone cower with just his words. Coupled with his very powerful and well-known family members and he was one hell of a threat.

And Chloe herself was more the intimidator, the one who handled the pope themselves. Marinette may have been the mastermind and Nathaniel the secret-collector but Chloe was the one knew what made people tick and exploited it mercilessly. She knew how to get her way, picking on the weaknesses and turning it back on them. She may have been the mayor’s daughter but she didn’t even need a phone call to daddy to make them crack.

“What about our Knights?” Nathaniel asked, bringing up the subject Chloe had been thinking about for a while.

The Knights had been brought into existence about three years before they disbanded, each of them having one. The Knights served as right-hands, aiding them when they needed help whether it be to act as a bodyguard, a spy or an informant. They were not as feared as The Aces but people were intimidated by them and knew not to cross a Knight because it usually meant The Aces would be after them.

Chloe’s Yellow Knight had always been Sabrina, while Nathaniel and Marinette’s last Knights had moved away and betrayed them respectively. They still didn’t bring up the Knight that had betrayed Marinette and aided a bully about a year before they disbanded. That little pest had been dumped and destroyed along with the bullying prick they had decided was better connected then them. They had the common sense to change school after the bully was defeated. Marinette hadn’t had a knight since.

“That’s something I wanted to discuss. Chloe, I’m assuming Sabrina’s yours, as usual and Nath, I’m guessing Marc is going to be yours?” Nathaniel nodded, a soft smile crossing his face as he thought of his boyfriend. Marinette smirked in a way that got Chloe excited, knowing whatever she had planned, it was going to be devilishly good.

“I’m going to have a knight again. But not like the other times. I will be asking Aurore to be a decoy but the real Knight is in Lila’s gang.” Marinette said. Chloe grinned wickedly as she realised what Marientte was saying.

“A spy.” She whispered. Marientte nodded, Nathaniel looking bewildered.

“But who? None of them would betray her even if they doubted her!” he exclaimed. Marinette raised an eyebrow at him.

“Nath, there is one person in that group who doesn’t believe a single word Lila says. Remember who?” she grinned as Nathaniel’s one exposed eye widened and he began to laugh.

“Of course! No one would notice!” he laughed at Marinette’s brilliance. Chloe knew who they were talking about too and had to admit it was a very good plan indeed.

They finished off the final details of their discussion, contacting Aurore post their return on the school website. Aurore had been grinning like the cat that caught the canary the entire time she had been on video call with them, so much that Mireille had backed away from her co-star in fear.

Chloe walked them to the door, waving goodbye to her friends as Nathaniel’s sister’s driver picked them up. She hung back, watching them vanish around a street corner and smiled. It felt nice to be accepted again.

* * *

Marinette hadn’t checked her phone the entire time she was at Chloe’s. She knew her parents were away catering an event for the night, so she let herself in through the apartment door, waving goodbye to Nathaniel and thanking him for the lift.

It was night time by the time she got back, fixing herself some instant ramen from the cupboard and heading up to her room, ever grateful tonight was Chat Noir’s night for solo patrol.

She sat herself down at her desk, changing into her pajamas and feeding Tikki her macaroons. The Kwami had enjoyed watching Marinette hang out with The Aces at the hotel. It was nice to see her chosen happy and at ease after weeks of crying herself to sleep and dreading each morning. Marinette had to admit it felt great too.

The girl decided to check her phone as she ate, glaring when she saw Lila had texted her. Alya, before she ended their friendship, had given the liar her number so they could “make-up” or whatever. All Lila had done since was post scathing texts and insults to her, mocking her at every opportunity. Marinette would have block her if it weren’t for the fact that she could use it as evidence, not that Alya would believe her.

**Lila: give up allready**

**Lila: everyone hates u**

**Lila: I’ve won, Maribrat**

**Lila: how’s your little sketches coming along?**

Marinette snarled as she read that last text. That bitch knows full well how her sketches were coming along after she convinced her little lapdogs to destroy her hard work!

She was going to ignore the texts for the rest of the night when she saw she had gotten texts from Alya, too. Her thumb hesitated over the Alya’s name as she considered just ignoring it as well but she clicked it, Alya’s texts coming into view.

**Alya: I can’t believe you**

**Alya: Cyber bullying Lila?** **Stealing her designs?**

**Alya: I thought we taught you a lesson destroying your sketchbook.**

**Alya: This is not the Marinette I knew. You’ve become such a jealous bitch!**

**Alya: I can’t believe we were ever friends.**

**Alya: I’m so disappointed in you**

Marientte stared at her phone, mouth slightly agape. She could feel her blood boiling in her veins, finger tightening their grip on the device. Anger flooded her senses as she read what her once best friend had said.

Disappointed? _She_ was disappointed in _her?_ That traitor, that backstabbing, hypocritical, stubborn _traitor_ was disappointed in her!

Marinette had bent over backwards for her, given her free sweets, made her clothes for free, babysat her sisters without any previous warning so Alya could go out on dates with Nino and have fun for free, had gotten her interviews with Ladybug that launched the Ladyblog in the first place, had attended to Alya’s duties as deputy class representative when she was slacking and had never even complained once!

Alya had dropped her for the next shiny thing that would give her connections; listened to a liar she’d barely known for a few weeks over her best friend who’d she’d known for almost a year, listened to “Ladybug’s best friend” with not a smidgen of proof and demanded evidence from her loyal best friend that had given her _everything._

With a scream of rage, Marinette threw her phone across the room, cracking the glass. She stormed up to her wall, looking at every photo of not just Alya, but Adrien, and most of the class too. She gazed at the wall of traitors and began to rip down every picture, not caring if they tore. Later, she would replace them with photos of her _real_ friends but right now, she yanked them from the wall with fury in her eyes.

Tikki watched her chosen with sad and fearfully concerned eyes as the designer gathered the photos and threw them in her metal wastebin. Marinette was like an unstoppable hurricane as she marched downstairs and returned with a bottle of rubbing alcohol and a lighter, dowsing the photos with it.

Marinette’s icy gaze bore into the paper and ink faces of her betrayers, not saying a word as she picked up the last photo on her desk, staring at her and Alya’s happy, laughing faces, an arm slung around the other’s shoulder. The first picture they took as BFFs.

With not a single hesitation, Marinette set the photo alight and dropped it in with the others.

Marinette watched the photos burn, watching the faces of her once friends and now betrayers crumpled and melted, going up in smoke. He watched them turn to ash and felt no regret, reminding herself of how she was going to make them pay.

Marinette felt a twisted smile form on her face. She was done with being the example, done with being the victim, done with enabling teachers, done playing nice. She was going to ruin them. She was going to tear them limb from metaphorical limb. She was going to make them beg for mercy.

Marinette was going to watch them burn to ashes beneath her feet and _laugh_.

Link to Artwork on DeviantArt: https://www.deviantart.com/artwitch28/art/I-Wanna-Watch-The-World-Burn-868280242

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, how love writing evil mastermind Marinette....
> 
> The art work is by me.  
> I listened to "World Burn" and "Revenge Party" from Mean Girls on loop while I wrote this.  
> Also, do not mess with fire, kids! Marinette put it out using a fire extinguisher lucky charm later.  
> Seriously, I just love writing Marinette being a badass, twisted mastermind who's gonna crush Lila like a bug. It's just so fun! And in my mind, Nathaniel will always be a sarcastic little sh*t. And Chloe is just really fun to write in this situation. She bounces between being so done, to being the satanic cretin that's causing the problems.  
> Also, the arson conversation is inspired by my real-life friend and his twisted sense of humour. He would definetly say something like that.


	3. Back and Looking Like Hell on Wheels

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The school finds out what's going on and The Aces make their comeback at last.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Miraculous Ladybug. That belongs to Thomas Astruc, Zagtoon and associated companies. If I did, I'd write the characters consistently and the love square wouldn't be so daMN FRUSTRATING!!!  
> (I'm kidding; gives me a plenty of fanfiction plotlines)  
> Also, warning for swearing.  
> Title is inspired by lyrics from "Beautiful" from Heathers.

Nino Lahiffe had woken up in a good mood on Monday, even though he’d usually dread the first day of the school week.

His morning had been very good so far, since he had gotten up before his alarm, Chris hadn’t used up all the hot water nor got into his school bag. His mom had made homemade pancakes for breakfast and he had gotten his phone back after a weekend without it since his mom felt that he had been texting Alya too much lately and “needed to focus on other things for a few days.”.

So, all in all, his morning had been going very well.

Nino was walking to school that day, listening to music on his headphones as he scrolled through any missed messaged from Alya. His girlfriend had mentioned something Lila said Marinette did and Nino felt a tiny piece of his good morning sour at the words.

Now, Nino believed Lila, he really did. It wasn’t too unbelievable to believe her stories considering his best friend was a famous model and he was very grateful that she had offered to set up a meeting with one of his favourite directors but he did doubt Lila in one aspect; Marinette.

It was just all the things she said Marinette did to her. Nino had known Marinette since diapers and he knew Marinette would never do the things Lila said. Not even back when _They_ were still around.

It made Nino shiver to think of a world were those three acted like Lila said. They had indeed been terrifying but they weren’t cruel unless they had to be. Nino supposed he had been pretty lucky back then, since Marinette’s friendship had given him protection from most bullies.

But even though the school had feared them, none of them had been bullies, especially Marinette. Every time Lila said Marinette had tripped her or stolen from her or called her mean names, Nino doubted the liar a little bit more because he _knew_ Marinette, knew she would never do something like that, even if she could get jealous.

He didn’t voice his doubts, not wanting to upset Alya. His girlfriend adored Lila and was her best friend. She would be enraged at him for doubting her dear friend’s word and Nino didn’t want to fight with her. He loved Alya and he wanted to trust her judgement, so he stayed quiet.

Sometimes, when he watched his classmates pick on Mari, he felt guilty, like he was a coward not to speak up for her. He felt torn between his childhood friend and his girlfriend. He cared about Marinette like a sister but he loved Alya. Nino didn’t want to lose either of them, but Alya was everything to him. He decided to stick by her side, only talking with Marinette when Aya wasn’t around. But sometimes, in those rare interactions with Marinette, he felt like he had made a poor decision to stand with Alya and Lila. Her eyes seemed so dull, so tired, so hurt.

Nino shook out of his thoughts, picking a new song to listen too when he noticed the other texts he had received over the weekend.

**Kim: DUDE!!!**

**Kim: SCHOOL WEBSITE NOW!**

**Kim: MAX JUST SHOWED ME!**

**Kim: WE R FUCKED!**

**Max: I have just showed Kim.**

**Max: Go onto the school website and into the most recent blog post.**

**Max: Something really bad must have happened for this to occur.**

There were even more messages from nearly the entire class, all screaming at that he needs to look at the school blog. Nino furrowed his eyebrows in worry, wondering what could have happened to make everyone freak out so badly. He went onto the school blog, finding the most recent post.

The words on his screen made his blood run cold.

* * *

Marinette woke up early that morning, having her shower and drying her hair. She had her outfit laid out from the night before, ready for her as she got ready for the day ahead. The day of their comeback.

Tikki was munching happily on her morning cookies, special toffee ones Marinette had made specifically for her. The designer rushed around, not wanting to be even a second late for today. She knew how important this was, and she had to get everything right.

She picked up her blazer, the last thing she needed to put on that morning. It was just as perfect as the day she first made it, every stitch and button just right. She remembered the weeks she slaved over the simple blazer, desperate to make it absolutely perfect. Making her blazer had been like making her commissions for Jagged or Clara; there was so dread, no annoyance, just her and her work.

She smiled slightly before putting it on. Wearing her blazer again made her feel like she did when she was Ladybug; untouchable, confident, in control. She felt her insecurities melt away with the garment, like they had never been real.

She stepped in front of her mirror, making sure her pigtails were tight enough and that her minimal make up wasn’t smudged. Once she was done her inspection, she took a step back to look at herself in full. And for once, she didn’t think everything was all wrong, she didn’t think she looked too childish or unprofessional. She felt good seeing herself in her old outfit. Everything felt just right.

Marinette grabbed her school bag and Tikki, heading downstairs and pressing a kiss to each of her parents’ cheeks as they wished her a good day back. She wasn’t sure if they meant back at school or back as an Ace. She said goodbye and pulled out her phone, texting on the chat.

**Blue Ace: I’m ready. Let’s kick some ass.**

* * *

There was something off about the school when Alya and Lila arrived at school that morning. They had been talking quite happily about Lila’s latest charity work for the article Alya was writing on it for her blog when they entered their school to find everyone gathered in the courtyard, whispering. The atmosphere was cold and tense, sending unshakable chills down their spines. The entire aura of the school radiated a feeling of cold, looming doom that put both girls on edge, as though something was lurking around every corner to grab hold of them and pull them into a never-ending pool of darkness.

Everyone seemed either uneasy, nervous or excited, passing on whispers of “They’re back.” through the groups of students. Alya could see some of the teachers, specifically Ms Mendeleiev, who had a very smug and relaxed expression on her face as she watched like a vulture from the second-floor balcony.

Alya shuddered as paranoia creeped into her stance, glancing around rapidly at the whispering hoards of students. As she and Lila walked through the crowds, their eyes seemed to land on the pair, watching them intensely. Lila held her head high, soaking up their attention despite the looks being that of disdain, caution and mistrust, not at all admiration.

“Did you hear?”

“About time they come back!”

“Someone must have fucked up _bad._ ”

“My money’s on Bustier or Rossi.”

“I bet it was the akuma class.”

“Definetly. What idiots.”

“All that liar’s fault, probably.”

“Shh! Those two could hear you!”

“Good! Those idiots have had it coming for months!”

Alya frowned at the whispers in confusion and scathing looks they were sent and instead turned to her phone in dire attempt to ignore them. Marinette had not replied to her texts at all. She frowned at her screen and grit her teeth. Marinette was being so petty!

“What’s going on Alya? Is something wrong?” Lila asked like the caring friend she was. Or so Alya thought.

“Nothing.” Alya assured her. Lila was such a wonderful person, why couldn’t Marinette stop being jealous and see that! Alya thought the girl would stop being such a bully and get over it when Alya ended their friendship but the girl had just gotten worse. It was the designer stealing Lila’s designs that was the last straw. She was sure that destroying that sketchbook of hers would make Marinette open her eyes and come crawling back with apologies.

Alya had thought she knew Marinette but it seemed that her “friend” had been acting. Alya saw how Marinette really was now; jealous, spiteful, manipulative and cruel. The girl just never seemed to stop hurting Lila, no matter how many times they gave her a taste of her own medicine. And then, it seemed she had manipulated Nathaniel to go against Lila too!

She heard more whispers from the crowds as they continued on to their class. Every one of their words just made her more confused and made her wonder _‘What the hell was going on?”_

“I hope they go after Damocles!”

“After how he expelled her, I’d be surprised if they don’t.”

“Forget Damocles! I heard they ripped up her sketchbook!”

“God they’re more stupid than I thought!”

Alya narrowed her eyes when she heard that. Expelled? Ripped sketchbook?

Where they talking about Marinette? Why would Marinette go after Damocles? Or Ms Bustier? Or the class? Sure, they had ripped her sketchbook but even if those designs were hers, she could just redraw them! And they had done that to teach her a lesson! Besides, Marinette wouldn’t do anything anyways, so why was everyone so worried? She may be horrible to Lila but Alya knew Marinette would never do anything to the class.

So why was everyone so tense?

It seemed Lila had come to the same conclusion and turned to Alya with worried eyes, putting up her little innocent girl act and pouting.

“Are they talking about Marinette?” She said worriedly. “I hope she’s not in trouble!”

Alya smiled at her sweet, selfless friend caring about even her bully. She put a comforting hand on Lila’s arm to assure her. Lila was such a nice person, even better than how Marinette used to be.

“I think so. But you don’t need to worry about her. She won’t do anything to you or any of us.” Alya assured her but she didn’t feel any security in her own words.

The atmosphere was indeed tense and on edge but most of the students’ expressions held little fear and more relief, some seeming almost excited. Nervous glances were sent towards Ms Bustier’s class but some even looked smug.

Alya and Lila came at a stop in front of their class, where most of the fear and uneasiness was radiating from. Their classmates looked panicked and downright terrified. Kim was pacing rapidly in his panic, Max looking shaken beyond belief, Mylene and Ivan were sharing nervous expressions, Rose appeared to be rambling fearfully while Juleka comforted her, eyes filled with worry but not just for Rose and Nino was biting his nails down to the skin. The DJ’s eyes landed on them and he instantly pulled them over.

“What’s going on?” Alya demanded. Nino sighed, rubbing his arm nervously.

“Right, you’re just as new as Adrien, you wouldn’t know.” He murmured as Adrien approached them, looking rather uneasy from the whispering around him.

“Hey guys. Do you know what’s happening?” the blonde asked. Alya grumbled.

“I don’t know but I think it’s to do with Marinette!” she proclaimed turning to her boyfriend for answers. Nino winced at the name.

“It is- “Lila cut him off with a wail.

“Oh no! D-Did she say something about me again? Is that why everyone was looking at me like that?” the liar fretted, ready to activate the waterworks.

“I swear if it is, I’ll- “Nino cut in, interrupting whatever Alya was ging to say.

“No. It’s not that. It’s something much, much worse.” Nino said, looking terrified.

“What is it then?” Adrien asked his best friend, getting even more worried. Aurore and Mireille began to approach them, both looking rather smug. Alya scowled at her rivals, particularly Aurore, who had her hair in loose curls and was dressed in a different blue dress than usual, this one being baby blue with embroidered white blossoms across the skirt, obviously the handiwork of Marinette.

“I see you haven’t seen the school blog, Alya.” The blonde girl smirked, Mireille holding out her phone with a smaller smirk so that Alya, Lila and Adrien could read the words on the blog’s latest post.

**_It seems the castle has crumbled without our careful watch_ **

**_And allowed a liar to creep her way in_ **

**_We’re done waiting for someone to speak up_ **

**_So, watch out, François Dupont_ **

**_The Aces are about to return._ **

* * *

Chloe was waiting for Nathaniel and Marinette to pick her up, her blazer immaculate as she adjusted her pin.

Wearing her blazer and pin again made Chloe feel better than ever before. There was something comforting about the velvety fabric, flooding her with the warmth that came with power and acceptance. It made her feel like she had a place again, a duty to serve and a place where she was wanted.

Part of her kept saying it was all a trick, telling her that this was all to mock her and make fun of her after all those times she had went too far in her bullying act, when she went too far in general. Like when she got Nathaniel akumatized, when she stole Marinette’s designs, when she exposed her identity as Queen Bee, when she stayed silent for so long about Lila. It taunted her for hours on end until she finally slipped on that blazer.

As she stepped into the sunny street, she no longer felt nervous or insecure, she felt like everything was as it was meant to be. She felt like she finally had her place in the world again and for once, that place wasn’t so alone anymore.

So, she didn’t fight off the genuine smile that crossed her face as Nathaniel pulled up. She got into the car, smirking at the redhead who no longer seemed to make himself as small as possible. The artist smiled at his friend and held up his phone, displaying the text from Marinette.

“This is gonna be fun.” Chloe grinned with vindictive anticipation as they drove off to collect their friend.

* * *

The message made Alya feel like someone had just signed her death certificate and she didn’t know why. It made her shudder as cold fear swept over her in a wave. Adrien was rather similar, looking at it with fearful eyes. For Lila it felt less like a death sentence and like she was about to be dragged down into the depths of hell where she probably belonged.

“Who are The Aces?” Alya demanded, glaring at Aurore. The blonde just smiled devilishly at her and turned on her heel, flipping her hair slightly before walking back to her class holding Mireille’s hand.

Alya glared at her back but scowled further when she saw Sabrina standing by Aurore, looking rather smugly and deviously at their class. Sabrina was also dressed differently today, not wearing her usual purples and turquoise but a cropped light grey sweater, a pastel yellow shirt with black shorts and black tights decorated in white polka dots, a black beret embroidered with little yellow flower blossoms. Another Marinette work. The usually fearful lackey looked rather proud and confident as she spoke with Marc Anciel of all people.

Alya didn’t know whether to hate the boy or feel sorry for him. He was Marinette’s cousin and the boyfriend of Nathaniel, who had recently showed his true colours. Alya wouldn’t be surprised if the boy was a bully just like them but she couldn’t help but think he might just be a poor soul who got stuck with the two. She also noted that Marc was also not wearing his usual rainbow shirt, but a black shirt with ripped black jeans and a much darker red hoodie, with black flower blossoms embroidered on it like the other two.

She frowned and turned back to Nino as Alix skated up to them, eyes wide with panic an emotion Alya had never seen on the pink-haired girl before. Alix grabbed Nino by the shoulders and shook him, speaking rapidly.

“Everyone’s saying The Aces are back! Tell me they are wrong, Lahiffe! Tell me!” she yelled until Kim prevented her from shaking Nino so hard that his head came off his shoulders. Nino looked sheepish and sad towards the girl, holding up his phone to show her the message.

“It’s legit, dude. They’re back.” He said solemnly. Alix cursed as she read the blog post, clenching her teeth and sadness filling her eyes.

“Fuck no! They wouldn’t! They wouldn’t come back just because… shit… Nath wouldn’t go back to being that just because his pages got ruined! He- I- FUCK!” Alix screamed and rolled away, cursing and denying.

“Nino. Explain!” Alya exclaimed, sick of her head spinning from the whispers. Lila nodded, hating being confused by whatever pathetic scene Maribrat had made. She wanted everyone paying attention to _her_ , not Marinette.

Nino sighed deeply, taking Alya’s hand in his and began to explain the chaos that was happening around them.

“You know how in high school movies there’s always a group in charge; The Heathers, The Plastics etc?” he asked, both girls and Adrien nodded.

“Well, that’s what we had. Ours were The Aces, the three rulers of the school. They were the top dogs, the ace in the deck, the queens and king of the school. Nobody wanted to mess with them.” Nino said, making Alya scoff.

“They can’t be that bad! After all, all those mean girl cliques never last.” Alya pointed out, her stubbornness starting to show.

“No, Alya. They weren’t the bullies; they _got rid_ of the bullies. Our teachers used to be awful at dealing with them, so The Aces dealt with them themselves, even got rid of crappy teachers while they were at it. They had killer connections and knew how to use them, not to mention they practically controlled the school.” Nino said. That was when Kim butted in.

“They kept everyone in check! They knew everything! Or at least the Red Ace did.” Kim couldn’t even speak his name. The class nodded, making noises of agreement although it did nothing to help explain things to their still confused classmates.

“Where does Marinette fit into all this?” Lila questioned.

“And Nathaniel?” Alya added, remembering what Alix had said. Nino gulped and rubbed the back of his neck, meeting their confused gazes.

“Marinette was an Ace, the Blue Ace. Nathaniel was the Red Ace and Chloe was the Yellow Ace.” Juleka chipped in, biting her lip nervously. Rose nodded rapidly along with her girlfriend’s words. “Marinette was their leader. Nathaniel’s role was to now everything about everyone, including their deepest secrets and Chloe was the intimidator; she could tell anyone weakness and knew how to mess with it.

“No wonder Marinette’s so cruel if she was friends with Chloe!” Alya exclaimed, unable to believe what she was being told. There was no way Marinette could have been part of such a group, especially if they got rid of bullies considering Marinette was a bully herself! That girl was such a hypocrite!

“What happened? If they ruled the school, surely we would have known.” Adrien butted in before Alya could start a rant. The model was becoming quickly more and more worried, hoping Marinette was not going to cause a scene with this Ace situation.

“Nearly two years ago, they stepped down. Everything was at peace and they no longer needed to be The Aces anymore. They had achieved their goal; teachers did their jobs, kids weren’t causing trouble and no one was being a bully.” Rose chirped. “They became normal students and we were all happy.”

“Until I came here. Oh, it’s all my fault!” Lila said, large crocodile tears rolling down her cheeks. Instantly, Alya went to comfort her.

“No, Lila, don’t blame yourself! It’s just Marinette! She’s just making a scene and pulling the others down with her.” Alya assured Lila. “She’ll see she’s wrong and stop once she realised how petty she’s being.”

Nino winced and the rest of their classmates nodded along, agreeing with Alya’s statement. After all, they had done nothing wrong. They had simply given Marinette a taste of her own medicine. Besides, even with her reputation, they were close enough with Marinette to know that she wouldn’t go after them; they were her friends after all, even if she was being a bully to Lila. She was just overreacting!

* * *

Nathaniel leaned back in the seat of his father’s limo, Marinette going over the game-plan for their first day back as The Aces one last time. Chloe had insisted they take one of his father’s cars, since apparently “his father had a more intimidating taste in cars”. So, he convinced his father to let them use his classic black limo.

He felt so much better wearing his blazer. He had felt for so long like the world wanted him to hide, to cower away in fear but now, wearing his blazer chased those feelings away. The touch of the fabric seemed to make all his lost confidence return to him, washing away all the insecurities that had threatened to drown him everyday he had kept his head down and the world toss him about like a ragdoll.

He new Marinette and Chloe felt the same. There was just something about the blazers, about being The Aces that energized them, gave them a purpose, made them who they are. It just felt right to wear these blazers, the wear these pins.

As he watched Chloe and Marinette banter, it felt like no time had passed at all. That they had never disbanded. The world felt like it was back on track from whatever train wreck it had been turning into.

They came to a stop outside the school, hearing several students gasp outside when they saw the car. He shared a look with Chloe and Marinette, each of them nodding and gathering their confidence. The driver opened the door and The Aces stepped out into the world.

* * *

“Oh please!” Sabrina scoffed, walking towards them with surprising confidence. The class turned to look at the redhead, who narrowed her eyes at them with more disdain than they had ever seen when she was just Chloe’s lackey. Sabrina had a strange new air around her, one of pride and determination. She held up her phone, pointing to the blog post.

“Didn’t you read it? This is more than an announcement; it’s a _warning_.” She emphasised. “Besides, you tore up Marinette’s sketchbook, wrecked Nathaniel’s comic and humiliated Chloe on Friday! After everything you’ve done on top of that, do you really think Marinette’s being petty?”

“Shut up, Sabrina!” Alya yelled, getting up in the shorter girl’s face until they were nose to nose. “Of course, you’re not on our side! You’re just Chloe little lapdog!”

“Coming from you! You kiss Lila’s ass like no tomorrow! And unlike you, I don’t want to be on the idiots’ side!” Sabrina snapped, before turning and walking away from them, returning to her place with the other students.

“Dudes, Sabrina was kinda right.” Nino said. Immediately, the class seemed to round on him, making the DJ put his hand sup in surrender.

“No, no! Not like that! About the Aces. From their point of view, we’re the bad guys!” he said quickly. Max nodded in agreement.

“That is true. From their perspective, they would think they are in the right.” Alya scoffed, still comforting Lila.

“They’re still being petty!” she said angrily. Adrien shook his head shrugging the strap of his bag further up his shoulder.

“Did you really rip up her sketchbook?” Rose asked tearfully. The sweet girl was rather horrified that her classmates might do something like that to Marinette. Rose had never participated in the class’” payback”, as she strongly believed in Ms Bustier’s teachings. She didn’t want to be mean to Marinette, not after all they had been through, not after the designer had protected her from bullies three years ago when Rose first transferred to François DuPont.

“Don’t look at me, I didn’t even know that!” Nino exclaimed, gaping at his girlfriend. Alya knew how protective Marinette was of her designs, knew how important they were to her. Why would she do that?

“She stole Lila’s designs!” Alix said. “She deserved it.”

Alya and Kim nodded along with Alix’ words and Nino felt that feeling of regret again, the feeling that told him he had taken the wrong side. He pushed it down as much as possible. Beside him, Adrien felt guilt pooling in his stomach.

Adrien felt horrible knowing that information. He had always told Marinette to ignore their name-calling and cold shoulders and take the high road. He never knew they had ripped up her sketchbook. He didn’t want to believe his friends would ever do that, especially to Marinette. The blonde swallowed his guilt and forced his mind to look on the bright side, not the awful feelings that seemed to want to drown him.

He felt a little disappointed in Marinette for causing all this commotion. She promised to take the high road, promised she wouldn’t expose Lila. Lila would do it herself, she just had to wait it out. He didn’t want to risk her getting akumatized or hurt her feelings; he hated hurting people’s feelings. Unlike Lila, he knew Marinette was strong enough not to get akumatized. Why couldn’t she have just waited?

At that moment, the entire courtyard went nearly silent, with just the stray whisper being heard.

“Oh my god, it’s them.”

“They’re here!

“They’re really back!”

The class turned to look at the school entrance, seeing the crowds of students begin to part to make a path for three approaching figures walking down the steps; Chloe, Nathaniel and Marinette, all three dressed in a similar fashion, their eyes cold and aura radiating confidence and power.

Chloe had her hair up in a curled high ponytail with a yellow scrunchie, wearing a yellow blazer with black cuffs and collar decorated in white polka dots, a white shirt with a stylish bow around her neck like a bow tie, a dark grey tulip skirt trimmed with a yellow pattern, knee-high grey socks with a yellow pattern down the front and black shoes with a slight heel and little white bows. She walked with grace, like royalty, her head held high and proud.

Nathaniel was dressed nothing like how they usually saw him, his blazer being blood red with black cuffs and collar, a white dress shirt and a black tie with a gold-coloured tie clip, dark grey trousers and maroon and grey shoes, a chain hanging down one side from his belt loops, probably an homage to his boyfriend. Nathaniel stood tall, no longer hiding away. He walked with pride and confidence none of them had ever seen in the artist before.

And Marinette. There was no more pink, and no clumsiness as she walked. She wore a startlingly blue blazer with six buttons, a white shirt and a bow to match Chloe’s, a dark grey skirt and thigh-high navy blue stockings, finished with brown shoes with a small platform. Her pigtails were curled and tied with her signature red ribbons, making her fierce blue eyes stand out. Gone was the sweet, pink-wearing girl who did anything to make others happy. In her place stood a girl with fire in her eyes, power in her walk and raging fury in her heart.

Each of them wore a golden pin shaped like an Ace of spades, each having an individual gemstone in their respective colour.

They stopped before the akuma class, all three of them giving them a look that would haunt their dreams as small smiles crossed their faces. Marinette opened her mouth, eyes boring into Lila’s very soul.

“The Aces are back.”

Link to Art on DeviantArt: https://www.deviantart.com/artwitch28/art/The-Aces-Are-Back-868226249

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They're back....
> 
> The artwork used was drawn by me and my wrist now hates me for it. I may include more art in later chapters if I can find the time between writing and school, and I know it doesn't always show up, sorry. I'm really proud of how it turned out and I hope you like it.  
> I loved writing the class' reactions when they realised The Aces were back and the final scene is one of my favourites.  
> On a random note, has anyone listened to the cover of "Candy Store" by Cristina Vee (Marinette's voice actor). It is outstanding and holds pride of place at the top of the playlist I made for me to listen to while I wrote this story. If you can, check it out because it is amazing!


	4. Step Into My Candy Store

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lila can't seem to realise this is The Aces' candy store now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Miraculous Ladybug. That belongs to Thomas Astruc, Zagtoon and associated companies. I just liek writing fanfiction.  
> Warning: Some swearing  
> Title obviously comes from Candy Store from Heathers the Musical!

Everyone was silent as The Aces stood in the middle of the courtyard, the crowd of students practically gaping with awe at the return of the school royalty. The akuma class found themselves gaping too, but in shock rather than any form of admiration.

It was strange, almost wrong to see the three like this. It just didn’t make sense to them after getting used to the Chloe who wouldn’t even look Marinette or Nathaniel’s way unless it was to mock them like they were beneath her, the Marinette who was clumsy and lacking in confidence and the Nathaniel that shied away from crowds at all cost and kept as quiet as possible. Now, Chloe was standing by their side like an equal, Marinette was standing tall and taking control and Nathaniel was stepping into the limelight rather than hiding from it.

After several minutes of tense silence, the trio walked onwards, walking past the akuma class like they weren’t even there. Alya went to grab Marinette by the arm but her reached out hand was grabbed by Nino, who shook his head at her.

The Aces made their way to the staircase, walking a third of the way up the steps before they came to a stop. Instantly, the crowds moved to crowd around the bottom of the steps to listen to them, the akuma class pulling up at the rear. The trio stood, looking over the crowds like royalty about to address their subjects.

“I assume you all want to know why we have decided to return. Truth is, we never really disbanded.” Marinette said, authority in her voice, her tone commanding the respect and attention of the entire student body and the observing teachers.

“Truth is, we put up act and used them to watch and observe the school until we were needed again. And that time has finally come with the arrival of a _liar_.” Nathaniel snarled the last word, narrowing his eyes at the class at the back. Students didn’t speak but many did glance at Lila Rossi well aware of who they were talking about.

“Since her arrival, this little vixen has been lying her way into special treatment, lied more often than she has breathed and has been bullying, humiliating and even the destroying the property of all three of us.” Chloe hissed, shooting a vicious look at Lila Rossi.

Students began to gasp and murmur at this, mortified that someone would try to bully The Aces. Did that fool have a death wish? Everyone knew of the power they held, not just in school but in the outside world, too; The mayor’s daughter, the designer of several celebrities, a son of the biggest tech company in France. It would be stupid to think you could bully them and get away with it!

“And it is not just her. It was her little flock of sheep who take the word of a liar over a friend’s.” Marinette’s words were bitter, so bitter the crowd could taste it. “And it has also helped shed light on two very incompetent teachers we should have gotten rid of a long time ago.”

The akuma class at the back felt rather offended, but they bit back their furious insults at the apparent “liars”. They weren’t sheep! And why wouldn’t they take the side of the sweet, kind girl that their so-called “friend” was bullying out of jealousy?

Meanwhile, although only a handful of students knew which teachers they were referring to, many of the teachers knew who The Aces had targeted and many of them would agree. Meanwhile, both said teachers remained oblivious, Damocles being in his office and Bustier basking in the bliss of ignorance in her classroom.

“But before we go any further, we must announce our Knights.” Chloe smirked and produced a silver pin from her pocket.

Alya peered over the many heads in the crowd to see Sabrina, Aurore and Marc standing on the bottom few steps in front of The Aces, facing the rest of the students. Nathaniel got out a pin like Chloe’s, both identical to the badges they wore themselves but in silver. The redhead handed his to his boyfriend in front of him.

“My Knight will be Marc.” He said, smiling at Marc and the pair shared a loving glance before Mar pinned the badge to his hoodie, the red gemstone glinting. Chloe nodded and stepped forward, handing her pin to Sabrina, who happily accepted it.

“As always, my Knight will be Sabrina.” She announced. “And remember these badges command respect!”

Sabrina smiled gratefully at her friend and pinned the badge to her sweater, her pin having a yellow gemstone like Chloe’s. The redhead looked out into the crowd and spotted Alya at the back. As her glasses slipped down the bridge of her nose, she locked eyes with the reporter and subtly pushed them up again with her middle finger.

“And finally, my Knight.” Marientte said, extracting a gasp from the crowd as she pulled out a silver pin. The same pin that had been last seen when an infuriated Marinette had ripped it from the chest of her traitorous Knight, Elissa Fallé.

“My Knight will be Aurore.” Marinette declared and handed the pin to Aurore. The blonde pinned it to hr dress, blue eyes shining like the blue gemstone as she looked across the courtyard with pride.

“Now, for our decree.” Marinette said once the whispers died down. Everything was deathly quiet, people leaning in to hear what the school royalty had to say. Lila scoffed silently at the back, jealousy simmering beneath her skin as she saw the attention Marinette and the other two fools were getting, wishing it was her instead. She wanted to roll her eyes at them, at how pathetic they must be to think what they were doing impressed or intimidated her.

“First things first, we will be giving the liar three weeks to retract her lies, apologize and face the consequences of her actions.” Chloe narrowed her eyes, examining her manicure as she spoke. “But since we know she will probably never do that, we would just like to inform the little wench that if she doesn’t, we’re coming for her and there’s nothing she can do about it.”

Lila scowled at Chloe from afar, Alya doing the same. Since when did that spoiled brat have the entire school listening to her, _respecting_ her? What was wrong with the world?

“Three weeks will also be given to these two teachers to either start doing their jobs and being competent or resign with their dignity intact.” Nathaniel said, crossing his arms as he glanced up at the second level of the school, where Ms Bustier had exited her classroom to see what was happening. But of course, the teacher didn’t realise it was her they were referring to, even though every teacher and several students were looking at her with accusing eyes.

“And finally, three weeks will be given the class of sheep that worship the liar for them to finally use their common sense.” Marinette sneered. “They will have three weeks to actually look into and realise the lies they have been admiring, reflect on their cruel actions against us based on those lies and finally _apologize_ for everything they have done to us. And if you don’t even bother to do this, then we will not be held responsible for whatever happens to you in the fallout.”

“Because even if you didn’t partake in the bullying, you enabled it because you shared the sentiment.” Nathaniel practically hissed, glaring at the class with stony, ice cold eyes and gritting his teeth. Very subtly, Marc gently reached out and held Nathaniel’s hand, which the artist was grateful for.

“And even if you do apologize, don’t do it because your precious idol is losing or because you fear the dirt we have on you, because if you do, we won’t hesitate to ruin you.” Chloe threatened, her blue eyes directly on her class.

“You’ve had countless chances at redemption for your deeds but you chose not to take them. We assure you this will be your last chance; Don’t waste it.” Nathaniel added, an aura of protectiveness surrounding the pair.

“If none of you take this chance, then you better run and hide. The longer you wait to reflect on your actions and apologize, the longer we will make your life a living hell. Because we will not be making those three weeks easy after how you have wronged us. Few things are worse than an angry Ace and you’ve went and _infuriated_ all three of them.” Marientte glared but a very small smile spread across her lips. “But don’t say we aren’t merciful. The real hell will be once those three weeks are over. Tick tock, you only have so long before your chance at redemption is gone.”

Alya grit her teeth and glared up at Marinette, standing above the crowd, acing all powerful and arrogant! Who the hell did her former friend think she was? She was standing up there like she was royalty, like a queen! And alongside Chloe and Nathaniel of all people! Chloe who was the biggest brat in history and Nathaniel, who Alya had honestly never minded before he showed his true colours. Who were they to act so high and mighty, threatening them over nothing!?

She couldn’t believe Marinette! That girl was being so petty but Alya didn’t care. They could threaten them all they wanted but she knew they’d be embarrassed and ashamed when they realised Lila was a wonderful, compassionate, _honest_ person that they were bullying over nothing. Chloe could do what she wanted, she didn’t care but Alya would take satisfaction in knowing Marinette and Nathaniel would come crawling back on their knees, begging for forgiveness and go back to how they were. They could only hope they were forgiven.

“As for everyone else, you know how we work. Step out of line and there will be consequences.” Chloe said with a well-practised hair flip. “Don’t think you’ll get away with anything just because we’ve got a main goal. We hear you’ve been causing trouble and we’ll be making your little lives just as difficult as our targets’.”

“Nothing we’ve said are threats.” Nathaniel’s eyes darkened. “They’re promises.”

Everyone was deathly silent and continued to watch the trio warily as silence overcame the schoolyard. Even with the warning, the school still looked adoringly at the three, admiring them even when threatened. They looked at them like they were royalty and the end-of-the-world all at once.

It made Lila’s blood boil. They were not only threatening her but they were taking all the attention that should have been hers! They weren’t even that impressive! Lila knew the rest of the school didn’t listen to her like the class but she also knew it was just a matter of time. She knew they were all just in denial about her “achievements”! She was the one who ruled this school, she was the one who should be basking in all that attention, being admired and treated like royalty!

“That is all we have to say for now. Remember; three weeks and then we’re coming for you.” Marinette said before nodding her head. “Everyone else, please continue with your day.”

With the wave if her hand, everyone immediately began to head towards their classes, whispering and gossiping as they passed by the akuma class. The class heard them as they walked by, heading towards their own classroom.

“That was awesome!”

“Like those idiots will actually do what they say.”

“I can’t wait to see what they do to Rossi!”

“Bet those teachers are Bustier and Damocles.”

“I can’t believe there’s a Blue night again! After the last one…”

“At least Aurore’s trustworthy. Unlike Césaire.”

Alya fumed at that last comment, storming up the stairs towards the classroom, steam practically blowing out of her ears. She stormed passed Ms Bustier, who continued to look down at the steps where The Aces were talking amongst themselves and their Knights.

The air was tense as Ms Bustier turned to Ms Mendeleiev beside her, green eyes filled with worry. The young teacher couldn’t believe the threats her student shad issued against their own class and poor Lila. Thought she guessed she shouldn’t be surprised, considering Marinette’s recent attitude problem but to drag Nathaniel and Chloe down with her too? She would need to have a stern talking to her star pupil but that didn’t help her understand what had just happened nor why her star pupil was suddenly making such threats. So, she turned to her fellow staff member.

“Demeter, what is going on?” she asked, silently wondering fi one of the teachers the three had threatened was her co-worker, since she recalled how often her class had complained about the woman being too strict and punishing them over practically nothing.

Demeter Mendeleiev looked at the younger teacher with dark, analysing eyes. She knew Caline had not joined the school until after The Aces disbanded, leaving her stupidly oblivious to the threat the three posed. At the risk her job and reputation were at after years of neglect and victim-blaming.

The purple-haired science-teacher thought back to every interaction she’d had with Caline Bustier, listening to the incompetent pushover brag about her students’ achievements. Not the students themselves, no, just their achievements, conveniently leaving out how badly she let them behave. Demeter recalled how every day she would have to listen to Caline in the teacher’s lounge, nattering on and on about how well her “methods” worked and how wonderful her class was because of them despite the constant akumas that plagued her students.

She remembered how every year, on Caline’s birthday, she would have to sit and watch the younger show off and brag about all the gifts she got from her students, insinuating over and over that not only were her methods and students so much better than all of theirs but also that she was a _better_ teacher than they were.

So, Demeter smiled coldly, vindictive glee filling her heart as she thought of how wonderful it would be when those three weeks were over and the arrogant, airheaded, ignorant doormat standing before her finally got what was coming to her.

“You’ll find out, Caline. You’ll find out soon enough.” She said, walking back to her classroom to begin her lesson, leaving the redheaded “good natured” teacher behind her, once again ignorant.

* * *

The Aces gathered in the upper hallway, speaking quietly to each other before they went to their class to likely face the anger of their fellow classmates. Their Knights stood with them, Sabrina practically bouncing with delight, happy to be wearing her badge again.

“All good so far.” Marinette smiled to her friends, happy with their comeback so far. “Alya’s probably gonna explode when we get to class, though. I have a feeling our class won’t be as respectful of us after were their friends for so long.”

“Speak for yourself.” Chloe reminded her, examining her nails again. “Fools probably won’t even bother to remember our power.”

“Their mistake.” Nathaniel smirked, squeezing Marc’s hand. The emerald-eyed boy beside him smiled and rested his cheek on the redhead’s shoulder. His eyes wandered over Nathaniel’s body, admiring how good his boyfriend looked in a blazer and tie, a blush spreading across his cheeks.

“You need a drink, Anciel? You’re looking rather thirsty over there.” Chloe said, an amused smirk on her lips. Marc’s face burned red with embarrassment at being caught checking out his boyfriend. He buried his face in Nathaniel’s shoulder, making the redhead chuckle and kiss his head.

“It’s not my fault he looks so damn good in a tie!” Marc bemoaned; his voice muffled. The group laughed as Nathaniel also blushed and returned to their original topic of discussion.

“I’m still honoured you chose me as a Knight.” Aurore beamed. “Even if as a decoy.” She added quietly. Marinette smiled, knowing Aurore was a much better choice than anyone else to play their decoy Knight. Aurore was loyal and trustworthy and had it out for Lila as much as they did, especially after Alya and Lila tried to discredit her own blog around the school.

“Hopefully they won’t suspect anything. Operation Glass Knight has to be kept as secret as possible.” Nathaniel said. They had to carefully plan everything to do with their spy operation, not wanting to take any risks in getting their undercover Knight or “Shattered”, their chosen codename. Even the slightest suspicion from Lila or Alya and they could lose one of their greatest advantages.

“You got that phone to Shattered, right?” Marinette asked. Nathaniel nodded, pulling out his phone and showing them the first text from Shattered, confirming that no one had any suspicions and their cover was safe.

Nathaniel had gotten a phone for Shattered, to make sure no one could obtain the information they were passing on. It was a special phone, made by his father’s company. It was designed a bit like a burner phone, but capable of keeping logs and notes as well as texting and calls with a constantly changing IP address and a special function so that when the wrong passcode was entered too many times, the phone was designed to both wipe the memory and over heat the battery to destroy the inner circuits.

It was not a phone sold to the public, instead kept for Nathaniel’s family’s other family business. You see, Nathaniel was the son of Oliver Artisan, the owner of Artisan Industries – he went by his grandmother’s maiden name to avoid attention – but there was something much less… legal behind that business: It was a front and funding operation for the Artisan Family mafia.

They were a “ghost mafia”, meaning they and their operations were practically unknown by everyone and even if some of their activities had been discovered by the police, there was nothing they could link to the Artisans or mafia activity. And it did help that Nathaniel’s family provided most of the technology in the police department. Nobody knew them and they kept it that way, using the company to hide all their operations and produce technology to aid them.

Nathaniel wasn’t very involved but his father had been happy to lend him one of their phones after he explained the situation. His father despised people like Lila, who lied and cheated their way through life and after his son’s comic had been damaged, Oliver was happy to let Nathaniel use the family’s mafia ties to bring down the liar. In secret, of course. Nobody outside of the Aces, the three Knights and Shattered were to know about the Artisans.

“Remember, Shattered has to be kept top secret. No pronouns, no real names, don’t even discuss them in school after this. Okay?” Marinette said, the others nodding in agreement. “Aurore, Marc, you better head to class before Mendeleiev grills your asses.”

The pair smiled and headed up the stairs to their class, Marc pecking Nathaniel on the lips before they vanished into their classroom behind their teacher. Marinette turned to the other two Aces and Yellow Knight, her lips in a small frown.

“Now, Alya is probably going to start yelling at us the second we get in there. You saw how pissed she was.” Marinette reminded them. Chloe scoffed.

“Like Césaire will be a problem. We’ll just let Nath loose.” She cackled, making the redheaded artist groan.

“C’mon Nath, Chloe’s right. Now that The Aces are back, you don’t need to hole your tongue anymore.” Sabrina smiled. Nathaniel sighed, knowing she was right.

The idea of not having to hold his tongue anymore actually excited him. Nathaniel had been infamous for his sarcasm and snark for all those years as an Ace. When they had disbanded and he had fallen into the role of the introvert, he’d had to stop. He couldn’t put people in their place anymore, he couldn’t speak out and say what he wanted. He’d felt trapped, his emotions always building up inside of him because he couldn’t let them out. Now, he didn’t have to.

“Let’s go. We don’t want to be late.” Marinette said and the three of them followed the Blue Ace up to their classroom and stepped through the door to the sight of their classmates staring at them. Alya, however, was glaring at them angrily. Ms Bustier was nowhere in sight.

An uneasy silence settled over the classroom as they continued to stare at them, tension building in the room until the dam that had been holding back the anger that had been building in Alya to finally break.

“What the hell was that!?” she demanded, standing from her seat, righteous fury etched across her face. Marinette raised an uninterested eyebrow, her lips in a straight line, showing hardly any emotion.

“What was what about, Alya?” she asked calmly. Alya narrowed her eyes at her and gesturing to the hallway and courtyard outside the classroom window.

“That!” she exclaimed. “Threatening us? What the fuck, Marinette!?”

“We never said it was you, Césaire.” Chloe smirked viciously. “We only said a class of sheep, if you thought that was you, that’s your fault.”

“Shut up, Chloe!” Alya yelled angrily. She turned to Marinette, practically seething. “What the hell are you doing, walking around the school like you own the place? With _Chloe!_ ”

“Because unlike you, Chloe doesn’t take the word of a liar over her friends.” Marinette snapped. Alya seemed to get even angrier, her face turning red.

“How dare you call Lila a liar!” she burst out.

“I never said Lila.” Marinette hummed with a smile on her face Alya began to splutter angrily trying to come up with the words to fight back. Lila reached over and place a gentle hand on her arm, fake worry on her face.

“It’s okay, Alya. Marinette can believe whatever she wants. I don’t want her doing something horrible to all of you because of me! You heard what she said!” Lila fretted with her fake tears. Alya and several other classmates immediately began to console her, assuring her that she wasn’t to blame.

“No! Lila, Marientte can’t say that about you; she’s just being a jealous bully You’re such a wonderful person – I mean, you just told me how you saved a falling baby from certain death a few weeks ago!” Alya proclaimed, believing another stupid lie made up by the wicked vixen.

“Please!” Nathaniel snorted. “You believe that?”

Alya and their classmates turned to them, all of them scowling at the redheaded artist while Lila began to sniffle with even more fake tears in her eyes.

“Are you saying I’m lying?” she hiccupped pathetically.

“How dare you!” Alya yelled at the blazer-wearing boy who sneered at her as she left her desk and came closer to him. He put a hand on his hip, standing proud and not holding back as he began to say all the things he had been dying to say since the reporter had began to believe Lila’s bullshit.

He didn’t have to play a part anymore, no longer had to hold back. And hold back he shall not.

“If she really did do something like that wouldn’t it be all over the news?” he scoffed. “I don’t see any headlines saying “Lying Bitch Saves Fictional Baby!””

Alya, Kim, Mylene and several more of their classmates looked shocked that those words came out of Nathaniel’s mouth, let alone the amount of sarcasm that dripped from them like bitter honey. Even Alix looked shocked.

 _‘Proves how well she knew me.’_ Nathaniel though bitterly before Alya collected herself and spoke up.

“It’s on the Ladyblog!” she declared with a smug smile, like that actually meant something to the world.

“And outside of your little tabloid?” he asked with a raised eyebrow, sending her spluttering again. Nino bit his lip, eyes hazy, seemingly having flashbacks to four years ago, when Nathaniel made a bullying jock cry with just his words.

“My blog isn’t a tabloid!” Alya shrieked like an unhinged harpy. “I’m a real reporter!”

Nathaniel let out a laugh, like the words Alya had just uttered were some hilarious joke. He pretended to wipe a non-existent tear from his eye and spoke calmly and coolly.

“I never realised how funny you were, Alya!” he said before his tone lost its mirth and replaced it with a malicious kind of amusement. “But you seem to forget; you _were_ a reporter. Or at least a wanna-be reporter. But you aren’t even that anymore because reporters _fact-check_. I guess that’s just fact you didn’t bother to check.”

Chloe was watching with vindictive delight, looking like she wanted to film the scene just so she can watch Alya’s smug face form into one of shock and speechlessness over and over. Sabrina snickered behind her hands, watching her fellow redhead tear into the fool like a shredder to paper. Marinette stood watching with pride and relief that someone had finally said it.

“Okay, Kurtzberg. I think it’s time you shut up.” Kim growled standing up, using his height in an attempt to intimidate Nathaniel. The Red Ace wasn’t having it.

“Oh yes, like you being taller than me is going to make me feel inferior to you.” Nathaniel snarked. “You know, Kim, I’m really starting to think that brawn of yours is desperately trying to compensate for something. Any idiot could tell Lila’s a liar.”

Max took that chance to step in, an angrily blushing Kim looking close to throttling the smaller boy. The class’ resident brainiac pushed his glasses up his nose and immediately began to sprout his usual calculations.

“There is a mere 9.7% that Lila is lying.” He said matter-of-factly but Nathaniel rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, I don’t think we’re going to listen to _biased_ calculations off of someone who though a balled up, _paper napkin_ could gauge out their eye when they were wearing _glasses_.” He said with a deadpan expression, emphasising all the right points to make Max admittedly feel a little stupid, which obviously didn’t make sense to the boy; Lila was telling the truth after all!

“Yeah, even I was disappointed in you for that one, Kanté. And I usually see all of you as idiots.” Chloe said, having a similar deadpan expression on her face as Nathaniel.

“Shut up!” Aly yelled. “I can’t believe you threatened us because of your own stupid jealousy, Marinette!”

Marinette scowled at her former friend, feeling anger course through her veins. She was sick of being called jealous! She had done everything to reveal Lila because she hated liars, something they all knew! They had known her for years! She would never harm someone over something as pathetic as _jealousy_ but of course they believed Lila and her stories because who needed logic when you had Lila!

“I am not jealous, Alya!” Marientte kept her voice cold despite the burning rage she could feel within. “And like we said; those weren’t threats, those were promises. I am sick of letting you take advantage of me, sick of playing the doormat! I have had enough of the _high road_ and I decided to take out the liar the way I did before because not only did you mess with my _business_ but you all have clearly forgotten who I am and what I have done for you all. So yeah, Alya. We threatened you, because you are a bully and The Aces don’t like bullies.”

Marinette was practically nose-to-nose with Alya, her blue eyes aflame like they never had been before when she was their sweet little pushover.

“So, if you wouldn’t listen to you friend, maybe you’ll listen to the Blue Ace.” She hissed. “So, either use your brain for once, Alya or get the hell out of our way. We are going to purge this school of bullies and liars like we did before and if you waste those three weeks we gave you, we’ll take you down too.”

Marinette stood straighter, glowering at Alya as she made her way passed the blogger and made towards the seat they had shoved her to at the back. Alya glared right back but couldn’t suppress the shudder she felt as she looked into Marinette’s cold, hard eyes, no longer the warm and bubbly ones she had known before.

“Run along and go back to kissing Lila’s ass, Césaire.” Chloe sneered taking her seat besides Sabrina. “Class is about to start.”

Alya had no choice but to sit down as Ms Bustier entered the room, grumbling silently to herself as Nino attempted to calm her. Ms Bustier rambled on for several minutes about the day’s lesson plan and so forth, despite the fact that none of them really cared and were too busy thinking about the blazer-wearing students that resided in their class.

“Now, Marinette, as class representative- “the bluenette cut off her teacher quickly from her place at the back.

“Oh, I resign.” She said simply. “I left a not eon your desk.”

Ms Bustier glanced at her desk and indeed saw a small note written in both the handwriting of her student and her parents. But the teacher chose to ignore it, turning to her “star pupil”.

“Now Marinette, you can’t just resign.” She said in her soft, patronizing tone. Marinette frowned at her, conveying an expression of mock-confusion.

“Why not? I am unavailable to do the work of class rep; it is taking a fatal toll on my mental health and sleep schedule. Besides, I’ll be far too busy trying to catch up with my commissions since my dear fellow students decided it was a good idea to damage my sketchbook.” She said, bitterness lacing her innocent tone.

“Marinette, money may be important but helping your friends is even more important.” Ms Bustier gently scolded like Marinette was a naughty child who didn’t want to share a doll at playtime.

“Friends? What friends?” Marientte asked. “I only have three friends I this room, Ms Bustier. And besides, it is not my job to please the class, especially when it is damaging my sleep and mental health. So, I resign.”

“Marinette- “The pigtailed girl didn’t let the teacher finish.

“It’s too late, Ms. I’ve already let Nathaniel burn my class rep binder.” She said in a sickeningly sweet voice while Nathaniel smirked. “Why don’t you make Lila class rep? After all, everyone _loves_ Lila.”

Ms Bustier tried to argue but Marinette sat there, as stubborn as a steel wall. She was not going to let Bustier force her into that job ever again. She refused to do her job for her. The teacher obviously realised how much of the lesson they were missing and got on with it, her smile looking rather like she had just taken a bite of a lemon.

“We’ll discuss it later.” She said and got on with the lesson. Chloe scoffed from her seat so that her friend didn’t need to.

* * *

Much later, the akuma class and The Aces made their way to the cafeteria. At the arrival of the akuma class, everyone went quiet for a moment before the whispers started up again.

“Check it out, it’s them again.”

“Bet they’re still listening to Rossi.”

“Give them some time.”

“Yeah, they’ll be crawling back to Mari, begging for forgiveness.”

“Like they have the common sense.”

“Like Blue would forgive them!”

“Yellow won’t. I doubt Red will either.”

“Look at them! They really are like a herd of sheep!”

“Yeah, and Little Bo Peep’s the wolf!”

“Shh, they’ll hear you!”

The class sat down at the usual table, surrounding Lila as she told them of her greatest adventure with her celebrity friends. They were all enamoured with her tale until the entire cafeteria went silent. The akuma class slowly turned around to see The Aces standing in the doorway of the cafeteria.

The silence that overcame the room was not one of mockery or whispers, but one of respect, awe and fear as they made their way through the room towards the centre table which had been left strangely empty. They sat down together, inviting Mireille over to sit with them and indulging in chatter.

Lila watched with intense envy as everyone stared at The Aces. They didn’t care. Why should they?

It was mid-way through lunch when Alix seemed to get sick of just sitting with the class, bouncing between Lila’s stories and glaring at The Aces. The pink-haired girl stood from her seat and stormed over to the table, standing in front of Nathaniel. The redhead looked up at his best friend and immediately felt dread fill his stomach. He knew what was about to happen, he knew Alix was going to confront him and he would have to have a conversation he very desperately did not want to have.

“Okay, Nath, cut the crap!” Alix scowled. “What the hell is going on? Why are you acting like this! The blazer? The backtalk? The Aces? All over some comic pages? That’s not the Nathaniel I know.” She looked at him with an almost disappointed look, expecting answers like he was going to grovel and weep for her forgiveness just because she said a few words.

Nathaniel almost saw red at her words. How dare she. How dare she! He wasn’t the Nathaniel she knew? _She_ wasn’t the Alix he knew! She had called him a bully, had disregarded his work like it was nothing, had trusted a liar over him! If anyone needed to “cut the crap” right now, it was Alix Kubel. Not Nathaniel. He stood from the table. He stood at his full height, no longer slouching or cowering in hope that the world wouldn’t see him. He was _done_ with hiding away.

“I think you have that the wrong way round, Alix.” He spat. The pink-haired girl cowered a little as she realised that her friend was indeed quite a bit taller than her without his slouch. “You are not at all the person I thought you were! The Alix I knew would have trusted her friends, wouldn’t fallen so easily for a liar’s tricks and most importantly wouldn’t be such an asshole!”

“Me being the asshole!” Alix yelled. “What the fuck are talking about? _You’re_ the one being an asshole! The things you said to the class? The pettiness over something you can just re-draw? Being a fucking bully!”

“I am not a bully and you of all people should know that! We met because I _saved_ you from a bully! And that is why you don’t know me at all!” Nathaniel yelled, usually bright cyan eyes now as dark and fierce as they had been when he was Evillustrator.

“Were you ever really my friend? Because my “best friend” wouldn’t blow off my hard work getting destroyed like that! My best friend would have listened enough to know that I’m not some wimpy introvert who needs her to fight my battles for me! My best friend would know that I am not a fucking bully or a liar because I _despise_ being bullied and lied to with a passion! My best friend would have TRUSTED ME!” Nathaniel was enraged as he drilled into Alix’s argument with every word.

“But you don’t know anything about me, do you? Same way that this- “he gestured to Alix vaguely. “Isn’t the Alix I know.”

Alix stared at him with wide eyes, trying to hide the hurt she was feeling deep down inside as her friend turned away from her to sit back at his table.

“Nath- “she tried, reaching out for his arm.

“Don’t call me that.” Nathaniel said in a cold, calm voice. “Only my friends can call me that.”

Instantly, Alix felt her eyes burn and her chest fill with an aching hurt, not to different from the one Nathaniel was feeling himself. He didn’t want to but it was the only way she could see what she had done. The only way she could understand what a bad friend she had been lately.

Alix shuffled back to the class table, sitting down but not eating anymore of her lunch. She just flicked it with her plastic spoon, eyes dull and heartbroken at the obvious loss of her best friend. Lila felt her envy spike as everyone attempted to comfort Alix over the confrontation and began to blubber, gaining back their attention.

“Oh my gosh, Alix!” she sniffled. “I’m so sorry! It’s all my fault and now they’re being so mean to you all!”

Alya wrapped an arm around the girl t console her, pulling her into a one-armed hug.

“Don’t worry about it, girl. It’s Marinette; like she could actually make our lives hell.” She said with confidence and Lila smirked secretly. She already knew that, after all. What power did Maribrat have anyway? This was Lila’s candy store, not hers or her pathetic little Aces’. She was the queen of the school and all they had was a little fantasy that would com crashing down so easily once Lila poked some holes in their wanna-be-royalty reputations.

* * *

Unknown to Lila, amongst the comforts and agreements with Alya’s statement, one person had a phone hidden under the table; a simple looking phone in a clear case with only a pale blue rook on the front.

* * *

**_ OP: GLASS KNIGHT Log: 01 _ **

**Class, especially Alya and Lila, don’t seem to realise that this is The Aces’ candy store now.**

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Queens and King have made their decree!  
> But who shall follow it? We'll have to wait and see....
> 
> Yeah I love this chapter even if it took forever! Sorry guys but writer's block has been kicking my ass!  
> Yeah, the concept of Nathaniel coming from a mafia family is also from BooksRBetterThanPeople but my twist on it comes from my friend who knows way too much about this kind of stuff. Nathaniel's personality in this story is actually influenced by said friend. Also, sorry if Chloe didn't really get to shine in this chapter but trust me, she'll get her turn to give someone a verbal beat-down next chapter.  
> Feel free to leave comments and kudos!
> 
> .... also, expect more logs from our dear spy, Shattered in upcoming chapters.

**Author's Note:**

> Looks like Lila's messed with the wrong kids.
> 
> Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it.  
> I've been dying to make a HBIC Marinette story since I discovered the trope. I wanted to make a group of them be the HBIC like I've seen before, like the Heathers or The Plastics (especially since I became addicted to listening to Candy Store and World Burn) but I just couldn't get it right until I read the fic by BooksRBetterThanPeople called HBBIC (Head Bitches & Bastard In Charge). It was a huge inspiration and I really hope they read this and enjoy it.  
> I also hope that you like my versions of the characters. I love Badass!Marinette and Badass!Nathaniel and I have found a love for writing Chloe as a protective little shit. And for the record, I don't hate Alya, but after season one, the way they wrote her character became very inconsistent and made her rather dislikeable personality-wise when it came to the Lila situation. I love writing salt. In my eyes, Canon Alya and Salt Alya are two completely different characters, since I like the former but only enjoy writing the latter, okay.  
> Next Chapter will be out soon!  
> Feel free to comment and leave kudos!


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